Last week felt like it might have been the peak heat of summer. Highs soared into the 80s°F and morning lows did not have the lake steaming. Surprisingly, with all the hot, unstable air, we did not see much in the way of storms.
We did get one good storm on Monday. That day had been warm and sunny, but dark clouds rolled in just before the scheduled ski show.
The tennis courts in Crandon have fallen victim to a fatal bout of Pickleballism (Pickleball Fever, Pickleballitis, Fancy Shuffleboard). The last two courts in Crandon are being removed and replaced with multiple pickleball surfaces. Our last games during a break in the removal process (They took down some of the chainlink fencing) were sad affairs filled with double faults and unforced errors. We found many tennis courts in Rhinelander. We were horrified to see some of them bare, the tell-tale scars of pre-pickleballism.
There was great joy in finding a few sort of local courts, but there was no escape from the 80°F heat on said courts. Back at the lake, there was plenty of escape from the heat under the 77°F water.
During many times in the week, there were breaks in the hottness when clouds would filter some of the heat from the air. It didn't last long but it was very pleasant while it did.
After all the tennis, golf, swimming, diving, and hiking some found the energy to take in a few skiing runs. Others chose toe tanning.
Well, that was one of the best weeks of the year. It was one of those weeks so packed with activity that it seems to last forever and then is gone in the blink of an eye, leaving behind only a slight limp, a little weight loss, and transitory lake ripples. Some of those ripples were the result of a dive mission that concluded with the recovery of a pair of santa pants from 20 feet of water. They were lost during last week's boat parade. How santa lost his pants in the northeastern corner of Lucerne during July is unclear. Didn't ask...didn't want to know. With all the disturbing national events last week, it's comforting to known that locally we are no longer in danger of a pantsless Santa roaming Lucerne's shoreline.
-Nemo and his tanned toes.
