December 26, 2010

Another week with seasonable temperatures and no snow, and Lake Wicwas still has fantastic skating.  There were lots of people out today, being a Sunday and the day after Christmas.  There are now tiny air bubbles in the ice, so it doesn't have the clear, black, transparent quality it did last week.  Large white air pockets have also have formed near the surface, but they are strong enough to skate right over.  In some places there are many of these pockets, while in other places there are none at all.  With some sunny days, the surface was perhaps even smoother than last week. With snow forecast for tonight, this will be the end of skating over the entire lake, but with such great ice underneath, it will be worth doing some shoveling.

Fall and winter are common times for house construction on all the lakes, or, as this year on Wicwas, de-construction.  There are two projects currently under way, both replacing older, classic homes from a generation ago.  The A-frame on the very southern part of the lake (picture from this summer) disapeared a couple of weeks ago and a new home will soon rise in its place.

 And one of the cottages on the opposite end of the lake - the north end - likewise has disappeared, and a new foundation has sprouted, waiting for a structure to appear on top.

At least these were planned changes.  In the winter of 2007-2008, in a true tragedy, a cottage on the north side of the lake collapsed under the record snow fall that winter.

It will be interesting to watch and see what kind of architectures rise in place of these landmarks from Wicwas's past.