Thaw I: The Slippening

February 2nd through 8th, 2026

Lake Lucerne
Last week was a weak start to Thaw. To our relief the sub-zero (°F) highs were gone. To our horror, the sub-zero (°F) lows were still a thing.
Lake Lucerne
The sub-zero (°F) mornings were usually preceded by a clearing sky and a good sunset.
Lake Lucerne
There was a little snow last week. It was dry, light, and blew off decks and roads with the slightest breeze.
Lake Lucerne
When the snow moved on in the evening, we had long shadows and a few sun dogs.
Lake Lucerne
The most snow, about 3 inches, fell just before the weekend. It was paired with a stiff northerly wind that summoned many snow devils on Lucerne.
Lake Lucerne
They gavotted (shout out to Carly Simon!) on the lake, roads, and faces for most of the day.
Lake Lucerne
During the dance of the devils, a few of the men were tasked with checking Eurasian Milfoil under the ice in front of Water's Edge. An electric power auger made drilling a hole super easy, barely an inconvenience.
Lake Lucerne
There was two feet of ice in front of Waters Edge.
Lake Lucerne
There are still a few Eurasian Milfoil plants under those 24 inches of ice.
Lake Lucerne
On the north end of the lake, the buds on the native trees are not going to leaf any time soon.
Lake Lucerne
On Friday evening the sky cleared and the air held the binding declaration of a sub-zero (°F) morning.
Lake Lucerne
It was unspeakably cold on the weekend. Installing the recently delivered parts into snow-goes during this loathingly cold weekend felt...well...not warm, but right.
Lake Lucerne
The Bottle Rocket War's forts show little signs of age with all the un-warm weather, with the exception of one really bendy wall.
Lake Lucerne
The top of the bendy wall will touch the ground in just about half an inch.
Lake Lucerne
The northern fort is a little more aged than the southern one.
Lake Lucerne
To no one's surprise, there were still a few sticks that needed picking.
Lake Lucerne
As Deep Winter heads back to its Arctic home, it apparently chucked a few snowballs. One or more of them connected with the face of Thaw last week. That stings, but with all the numbing of the cold air, not as much as it would have. This late into the bad solstice and after an especially fathomless Deep Winter, the latest bout of cold causes more than numb fingers and toes. Last week saw reports of Late Season Tourette's (LST) during the slap of sub-zero mornings or after dropping tiny screws during snow-go repairs. Thank goodness for magnets on a stick! The forcast calls for Thaw to shake off last week's pummeling and head to a land of above freezing and thoughts of tapping. We'll wait and see. We've been fooled by forecasts before.


-Nemo won't be fooled again.