Colder, Then Not

Last week started off sunny, calm, but mostly cold. Monday's morning low of 26°F was notably unpleasant. It took until the weekend before it got much better.

At the start of the week, the greening of the hills around the lake seemed to pause. In addition to cooler, it's been dry for a time. This may have been the cause for this arresting of the green.

Shortly after the week started, a strong wind from the south angried up Lucerne's north end.

Then the wind ended, the lake calmed, and the rain started to fall.

By Wednesday morning, the lake was almost a half an inch deeper.

The rain may have ended, but the calm remained.

The hummingbirds, orioles, and other migratory types are back and seem to be more numerous than ever.

Local squirrels have been strong-arming the bar for more tribute by stating, "Nice oriole feeder you got there. It'd be a pity if the fruit somehow fell off of it." As long as small piles of seeds are placed on deck rails, the oranges stay on the feeder.

A pile of geese are also back and honking up the air, sliming up the grass.

Ramp season is ending, but trillium season is here.

The mayflies are also back. They gather in huge batches. When you pass by, they take to the air in search of head holes. If you make it to the northwoods in the next week or so, GUARD YOUR HEAD HOLES!

There's been quite a few branches washing up on the beaches this spring. One of the larger ones got hung up before reaching the beach and required a team to pull it from the ski course.

While pulling the tree from the freezing water, we saw part of a silvery top in the shallows. It turned out to be an old beer can.

The can had the old pull tab style opening. This type of tab was phased out in 1975. The can was in pretty good shape for being under the lake for half a century.

The air warmed up on the weekend. The water got much warmer, too.

By Sunday, the hills around Lucerne accelerated in their greening and started looking less spring-y and more summer-y.

It rained on and off Sunday. At night it mostly rained on. The fire danger went from Very High to Low in about 12 hours. And the lake got deeper. Historically, the lake hits peak depth for the year on June 1st. This year is on track to repeat that history.

-Nemo, back in '75, was drinking Jolly Good Sour Power (not Old Milwaukee).

Colder, Then Not

May 11th through 17th, 2026