Well, it’s January 3rd. The real, though unofficial, New Year’s Day has passed. The Packers won. The unreal, though official, New Year’s Day has passed. The Badgers lost. The Iowa Caucuses are in full swing. A handful of corn farmers are determined to tell the rest of the country which way the Republican redneck political winds should blow. Golly gee, I sure do hope that a Christian wins!!
We took down the tree today, thanked it for celebrating Christmas with us, and put it out by the street. We put the ornaments and lights back into their boxes. I put the holiday CDs back into their jewel cases — there’ll be no more Muppets, Charlie Brown, or Mannheim Steamroller until the day after next Thanksgiving. Yes, we’ve gone back to retirement!
So, what will we be doing to help get through the post-holiday doldrums? With the winter weather remaining as fickle as it has been of late, it might be a long wait before we get to try out our new cross-country skis. And, with Lake Mendota remaining languidly liquid, ice skating or walks out on the ice are not on the list. Last night was the first relatively cold weather this year, so that might help with the ice.
I walked down to the lake this morning to see if there’d been any progress on the ice front. For the most part the lake was still liquid and the water lapped up along a narrow but quite solid rim of ice. In other places a shelf of very thin ice extended out maybe 50 yards from the shore. Dozens of Canada Geese were swimming and honking near the shore. Some eventually made their way on to the thin ice and walked around. Many eventually sat down on the ice. With the temps only in the mid-teens it amazed me that when they sat their wet butts down they didn’t stick to the ice. After all, Flick’s tongue stuck to that flagpole!*
While I ponder what to do with January, here are some photos from this morning. And, let me wish you a very Happy 2012!
*Of course, that was the result of the dreaded “triple-dog dare.” If you’ve never seen A Christmas Story, you’re missing out.