Drippy Trees, Ice, and Basement Badgers!

March 20th through 26th

Last week started with a dusting of snow on the lake and single digit lows that preserved that white powder. It got warmer as the weekend approached.

Thick lake ice and higher lake levels (Huzzah!) combined last week to scour rocks on the shore. A few boat lift legs were imperiled and some docks also suffered woe. It was unclear whether the locked ice somehow moved or it just expanded up the shore.

It was also windy.

Later in the week, the sun came out enough to melt the snow and beat on the lake ice.

The warmer part of last week restarted the maples.

It still got pretty cold at night. This resulted in some liquid sap and some hard sap.

The liquid and the ice all got boiled down and a surprisingly large batch was pulled off before the weekend.

Several weeks ago, there were some strange noises coming from under the living area of the bar. The Basement Badgers were back. To get a better understanding of Bucky, a motion activated critter cam was deployed. It would seem that the Basement Badger was wearing a racoon suit. To take pictures in the dark, the camera has two banks of red leds that turn on when it senses motion. It looks like two red eyes suddenly opening and our thought was that this would startle the critter, sending it scampering away.

Don't ask how that went. It never occurred to us that the red eyes would cause Bucky to mate with the camera. We are expecting a litter of iPod nanos in a few months.

Missed you at bar night last Saturday. It featured un-craft brewed beer and some kind of cheese.

We haven't heard from Bucky Badger for a few weeks now. It would seem that a paternity suit was all that was needed to send him packing to parts unknown. The lake ice is still thick, but in retreat. This week, in addition to getting a lake ice measurement, we'll be monitoring smaller local lakes that usually go out a week or two before Lucerne. With expected highs in the 50s (℉) and lows above freezing, this year's maple syrup season is coming to an early end, but, in addition to ice-out, the golf season is rising from those sweet ashes.<br><br>-Nemo's bringing a snow wedge just in case.