Thursday, February 07, 2013

hi from Wisconsin

We are watching "under the Ice." It's a documentary about sturgeon spear fishing on Wisconsin's Lake Winnebago. Basically, ice fishermen gather in huts, drill holes in the ice and then wait for a sturgeon to swim to that spot. The spear is thrust down once a fish is spotted. Some fishermen have done this for years and have yet to spear a sturgeon.

Only in Wisconsin. There you sit, on a cold day, in the middle of a frozen lake, looking down into a hole in the ice. For hours. Days maybe. Staring down at the icy still waters. Fun!

I write this on a day that is so fully 'Wisconsin' it hurts.

A dreary morning. Of rain. You really hate to see rain in February. It wipes out the fresh, pure snow and leaves streaks of brittle, muddy ice behind. And it's not as if it portends the end of winter. No, not at all. It's February after all!

So you compensate with a cheerful breakfast. And we do.


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After, I drive, very slowly, willing the donkey car not to slide in the slush.

Work. When I look out the window, I see that the rain has changed to snow. Wet, uncomfortable snow.


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Eventually that snow will turn denser, heavier, more pronounced. The city wont clear the sidewalks now. Pointless. Stuff keeps coming down. Miserable for those who have to navigate the sidewalks now.  I have my weekly shopping errands. They require patience. Traffic is crawling. I want light rail! Buses, trains, anything but this car crawl.

Finally. Time to head home. It may be beautiful out there, but that 'out there' is difficult to capture if you're shy about getting wet. Or about sliding off the road.


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Home. Finally. I know the northeast is getting the headline blizzard tomorrow. I'm not really complaining. We're not threatened in that way. We've got just enough to stir the passions without going overboard. (Tomorrow after work, Ed and I are heading north to fully indulge the senses.) And still, it's been a challenging winter. Not for the cold, not for the icy stuff, but for the unpredictability and changeability of it all. Snow tonight, sun tomorrow, rain Sunday, freezing Monday, wind Tuesday, even colder Wednesday.

But that's next week. For now, home.


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Where the pretty, lacy patterns of snow touched trees make winter look positively delightful.