April Redux

Last week started off wet and cool. It ended wet and cold. Low temperatures many mornings were in the 40s°F and highs were in the 60s°F. During the weekend, the highs struggled to reach 50°F. According to the weather sites, the high on Friday was 51°F, but the warmest we saw on the north end of Lucerne was 48°F.

And the Canadian smoke was back. We've gotten enough of the hazy, acrid fumes over the past few years to get pretty good at determining the province or territory of origin. For example, last week we had a primarily Saskatchewan and Manitobaian mix of a gray color with thick clarity. The nose is intense with aromas of incompetent forest management and hints of burnt bear and crispy caribou.

The lake started the week with a water temperature of 64°F and an increase in depth of almost three quarters of an inch. It would get colder and deeper by week's end.

There are lots of frogs and toads this year. The bar's video game collection does not include a Frogger machine, but we do have Knott Lane. This guy needs to insert another coin.

The squirrels don't enjoy the rain. The precipitation seems to have kept their reign of evil to a minimum through the weekend.

Empirical evidence gathered from the bar's feeders suggests that wet weather makes hummingbirds more hungry.

Geese continue to take over and goose up the north end of the lake.

And I, for one, unwelcome our new avian overlords. I'd like to remind them as a grass toucher, I can be unhelpful to them if they continue to slime up the bar's lawn.

On Wednesday we saw the second ski show of the year in front of Water's Edge.

The wee horde that braved the smoke saw a great show.

It rained all weekend.

The streams and creeks coming into Lucerne are flowing hard. The lake level is going up.

Many of the men claim that summer will come to the northwoods any week now. Perhaps, but not last week. Over the last 7 days, the only things that made it clear that this was June and not April was a shorter night, no tapped trees, and a lack of ice storms. I don't recall much Canadian smoke during the end of tapping season, so there was that, too. These things tend to average themselves out, so we are fully expecting a scorcher of a July and a lake temperature that's not so flinchy. The sudden, involuntary movements and tourette's as a reaction to dipping a toe into the lake was fun at first, but is growing old fast.

-Nemo: Sommelier of Canadian Smoke

April Redux

June 9th through 15th, 2025