Ice fishing?

On Tuesday the ice went off Torch Lake.  Chris Szejbach was down at the Day Park and wrote, The ice breaking up was so cool!  Looks like glass and the noise was like breaking glass.

She went to get her camera and called Babs Young, who trotted right over with her camera.  The two of them had a very, very good time making images of the ice and watching this fisherman.  It is not clear to me whether he was determined to be the last one on the ice or the first one in the water, but in any case he hauled his boat out of his truck, dragged it across the grass to the shore, pushed it onto the ice, slapped his oars in the locks, and proceeded to “row” himself across the glassy surface toward open water.  Chris, who took these photos, said it took him pretty near 45 minutes to make the trip.  I admire persistence.   

OK, here we go

How hard can it be? I'll just ease it across this nice slick surface.

OK, this is turning out to be a lot more work than I counted on.

Still -- I can't give up now. Maybe if I poke a hole in the ice . . .

You will be glad to know that he did eventually triumph.  Babs says she has a photo of him quite a way out, in a sunbeam.  Both of our intrepid correspondents sent gorgeous images of ice, and eventually I’ll show you those as well, but I think there are more coming and I may as well get two posts out of it . . .

Babs is on her way to Florida and we will see what she sends on Sunday.  Perhaps “Ice Out on Torch Lake” and perhaps “Ice In On Lake Okeechobee” the way things are going down there.  (Did you see the newspaper photos of Florida tomatoes frozen on their vines?  Nice, ripe tomatoes that would have been riding up here to the Eastport Market any day now?  It was enough to make me weep.)

Last evening I went down to the Day Park myself, and found that all the ice was gone.  The fisherman was gone, too.  It must have been a lot easier to get out of the lake than it was to get in it.  I hope he caught lots of fish.  I hope he enjoyed the sunshine.