Thanksgiving Weekend
November 24th & 25th   
I'm always amazed at the contrast of sunset times in late fall and summer.  In summer at 4:00 PM we are frequently deciding between golfing, skiing or other.  Now, at 4 in Fall,  the evening has expired and skunked hunters are filing out of the woods and into the bars
By 4:00 Friday afternoon, we were about 1 hour from the lake and using the last rays of the sun to aid refueling.
Frost covered the ground Saturday morning.  The air was as quiet and calm as the lake.  The silence seemed to go on forever, only to be broken  by the rare and far off gun shot.
Now I'm no hunter, but some, it seems to me, have taken some pretty undersized deer this year.
Perhaps an "objects in scope appear larger" graphic should be etched just under the crosshairs.  On the other hand, even at 25 yards, it's an impressive shot.
Larger critters have been leaving paw prints in the sand on the north end of the lake.  I would guess a bear, monster, or really big puppy.
If it was an extemely thirsty monster, that might explain why the lake level is so far down.  13.5 inches below the nail is a few inches above the record low, but we may lose a few more inches before the ice comes in.
The pumpkins from last month have not faired well.  In addition to a large under-bite, this one had the kind of structural problem (extreme gooey-ness) that made it hard to pick up.
The replacement for cabin 5 at Timber Shores is up.  It's green, a little cozy, and sits on large, round rubber footings.  I didn't get a good look at the interior, but it currently seems to be furnished with one big chair overlooking the lake.  I'd rent it.
The webcam continues to work well.  It should be pushing ice-in images to the world in a few weeks.
The high temperature on Saturday was almost 50 F.  As the sun set and the Christmas lights flickered to life, clouds started to roll in and the temperature started to drop to more seasonal levels.
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The tasks we had scheduled were finished about an hour early.  The plan was to pack the car and leave to get to work tomorrow.  Instead we pulled out some lawn chairs and watched the sun set on the lake for an hour.  I can't recall a better spent hour this year.  We'll be back at the end of December to carve a big hole in the ice for the second annual "Last Swim of 2006/First Swim of 2007" just before mid-night on the 31st.