The center of the lake had been steadily freezing over last week and when Andy and I set out across the moon-soaked nightscape on Friday evening to investigate the ice's progress, we found a good 4 inches of ice out there. The MN DNR says 4" is safe for people and that's good enough for me! While I may skate on 1.5 inches in the bay, when ice is the only thing between me and a 70 ft drop to the bottom of the lake, I like to play by the rules.
Christmas may come once a year, but skating conditions like this come about once a decade. This weekend's skating totally rivals skating on the Grand Marais harbor when I was six.
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| There's something wrong with Andy's skates |
When we were out on the very clear ice, I said to Andy, "Wouldn't be crazy if we saw a fish?" So far I've found two. On a Saturday, I screeched to a halt when I spied a crappy lying on its side under the ice. Yes, a crappie. Then yesterday, I found this cisco. Andy acts like you see fish all the time like this, but I don't think so.
Truly, it was a weekend full of things to marvel at. One of those times, when you take a minute to pause and think, wow, this is pretty darn incredible, how lucky am I?
What did you get up to this weekend?
We can't wait to go ice skating, but, we'll be skating on an outdoor rink. I'm not a fan of being on the frozen lake. Scares me. I'm a dork, I know. Have a great week!
ReplyDeleteOh, oh, when you write about it then winter and skating sounds magic. I am still the same, preparing for hypernating...
ReplyDeleteWow you are SO brave! I would be scared to death to go out there. I like my ice skating rinks fake and in San Francisco where it's usually only 50 degrees :)
ReplyDeletewow- we don't even have SNOW here anymore- I'm jealous of your ice!
ReplyDeleteMy husband, the hockey player, is SSSOOOO incredibly jealous of you right now. The ONLY ice we have is indoor and over $100 an hour to skate on. :( I, on the other hand, am insanely jealous that you have a sweet pond to skate on. That's just awesome!
ReplyDeleteWow, that is just amazing. I agree, you are brave! I'd be so afraid the ice would crack. I love the photos, even the one of the fish! :-)
ReplyDeleteWe were just commenting the other day how we thought our lake would take a long time still to freeze. Then the next day there was a bunch of kids and machines on the lake! I watched with fear that we'd see an accident. But it seemed to be frozen! Then we had really warm weather and rain! I think it'll be a while till I'm brave enough to try walking out!
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