Sunny, hot on the trail of the local deer population.

The Hockey Bench

We'll be using the nets today, and the dock will be the bench for our pond hockey game.

Here is our neighbour's rink. You could put 5 or 6 of these inside ours.

Pressure crack zig zags along the shoreline.

Ice lifting up due to the pressure crack.

In the 12 winters we've lived on the lake we have never had a pressure crack so large dominate the ice surface in front of our place. This one started off as fairly large, so we thought, last weekend, but since the early week cold snap it really expanded. It cracked about 400 feet off shore, and it zigzags along for about 2 km. In places it's 10 feet across and the ice is piled up 3 to 4 feet high in spots. Both Sunny and I refused to cross over it - as we approached it we could hear the ice cracking again. This is a relatively small crack in comparison to ones on Lake Nipissing at this time of the year, but for Trout Lake in our area, it's huge.

Whoa, now here's a "golden oldie!!" Here is the junior team I played with in 1970-1971 in Lahr, Germany. We were called the Lahr Junior Canadians, but probably other names we forget or didn't know about. Can you spot me, or anyone else for that matter?

We rarely get pressure cracks this big in front of our place on the lake. This one is over one kilometer long. Since it formed, it has cracked again and is now about two feet wider and buckled (picture to follow??).

Sunny, doing what she loves to do most, running flat out.

With just a skiff of snow on the ice, the wind sure makes some interesting patterns, and the "Wolf Moon" helps with the lighting. This almost looks like what Neil Armstrong stepped onto when he landed on the moon.

Yesterday afternoon/evening Mr. P. helped me scrape off the ice and give the rink a first flood. The rink measures 110 feet by 100 feet. It took 1 1/2 hours to flood the rink, and we were like popsicles after it was done -> it required two large hot whiskeys each after for us to start to thaw out.

How ccccold is it? -27C this morning. Brrrr. Sort of makes you want to roll over and stay under the covers. What is it with the "western" work ethic that you get up and go to work like everyday is the same, regardless of the weather conditions. I'm hoping the truck starts.