Family Day 2010

Off in the distance, I could hear children laughing. In our neighbourhood there aren't many kids! Mostly old folks, like me!It was a delightful sound.

It *was* a bit bizarre in winter. On an overcast day, everyone dressed in their dark clothes.

The kids laugh and play in the lake in summer, but what could be so much fun one our frozen lake??!!

I walked across the ice. A bit slushy close to shore, especially in the warm bays where the land snow melts and drains in the warm sheltered spots.

I walked closer and closer.
An auger. There's a clue!

A fishing rod, and a tool box.

Monday was a holiday in Ontario: Family Day. It is a statutory holiday in Alberta & Saskatchewan, too.
What do you do in Muskoka on Family Day?

Ya go fishin'!

Our seasonal neighbours invited friends, in order to share their time and place.

What fun. Poor Dad was the one who had to auger the hole.

Of course, everyone wants their own hole.

Dad worked very hard, all for a good cause.
Family fun on Family Day! The fish were nibbling.

The ice was thinner closer to the shore,
Dad had an easier time there! (Those who walk do not understand this.) It was only about 6" thick.

Walking across the lake in the bay, you sink slowly in slush on the top.

You can read my post about lake water temperature if you missed it. (See below!)

The neighbours came by, a bright spot of colour in a dreary landscape, to announce that the lake had been stocked in the fall with rainbow trout. That set hearts aflutter.

I didn't stick around to find out what they caught. It was a damp kind of cold! I did explain that they were right over a wonderful weed bed, dearly loved by our fish.

As a child I used to swim in this spot (beginning since 1960) and my children and I spent many hours on the shoreline nearby in subsequent years.

The sledders told me a funny story about snowshoe tracks from someone on thin ice, up on a shallow pond up yonder. I explained that that was me! I told them how careful I was, and that you can sense the thinness of the ice up there, through the snowshoes, and change your tack, if necessary.The previous evening had been a -20 C. night. And then, off they went to play in the forest.

I do caution those new to the ice. Lake water has its own character.

Heads up - it's rolling in

Jan 14, 2010

Ice floats and water, at temperatures just above freezing, sinks. Water is nearly isothermal with depth. Down in the depths of a lake the temperature is constant. Without any wind, this would be even more true.

My Muskoka: ICE: accidents waiting to happen

Mar 16, 2009