In the doldrums

The busy holiday season is over.  A subzero arctic front has moved into the Midwest.  This is the time of year when I often find myself somewhat adrift, wondering what to do next.  So far this January I’ve had a head cold, an ear infection, and a hernia operation.  I guess I shouldn’t be surprised that I’ve really been in the doldrums these past few weeks.  So, today I decided it was time to get out of the house, take a walk, and try to shake them off.

The recent cold weather finally finished the job of freezing Lake Mendota so my wife wanted to go ice skating.  I thought it would be nice to get out for a walk on the lake again.  It’s always interesting to walk across this frozen landscape — nearly 10,000 acres that’s only open to pedestrians for a short time every year.  The rest of the year it’s reserved for boaters and aquatic birds.  The ice was dusted with snow and only a few ice fishing shanties were scattered about.  A few other skaters and skiiers were enjoying the lake but, for the most part, the 10,000 acres was ours.

My wife pointed out that in some places it almost looked like feathers were frozen into the ice.  So, as she enjoyed skating I wandered around trying to capture some of the patterns of cracks and air frozen into the ice.  I hadn’t used my camera in almost 3 weeks; that must be some kind of a record.  Here are a few images from the lake.

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