January fun

January flies past as each New Year begins.  Ice formation on the Lake was late this year due to warm weather, but when it finally was thick enough, the ice fishing was good.  It seems that the best tasting fish come from icy cold waters!

The long shadows cast across the lake at sunrise are a special winter treat that you only see when the lake is frozen and snow-covered.

Thick, foggy cloud cover, and warm south winds popped the temperature up to near 40 degrees one weekend.  The snow conditions were perfect for making snowmen.  I'll never bee too old to enjoy this childhood activity!

Snowman clearing the patio.

Snowman on the lake shore.

This snowman is close to the shore to stay out of the usual snowmobiling areas.

First Sunset of 2016

What a lovely weekend at the Lake!  A little decorated tree greeted us as we drove down the road, with Holt Lake in the background.

 

The first sunset of the year in a cloudless sky, and way far around the Smith Lake shoreline.  It's always amazing how far the sun travels across the horizon throughout the year.  

 

The play of sunshine and shadows across the lake is a winter's day delight.

We celebrated the New Year at the Lake with a bit of ice fishing, hot spiced wine, working a puzzle and enjoying the company of family and visiting with neighbors.  Wishing you all the best in the New Year!

Early October Fog

Early October at Smith Lake brings cool, crisp nights.  Air temperature dips below the lake temperature and the sunny mornings are softened by fog lifting off the surface of the still water.

The trees were still mostly green when that photo was taken on October 4th, but by now they have turned to brilliant gold.  We will be up soon to see their autumn finery.  The price of that delightful view is having to rake the fallen leaves up off the lawn.  So worth it!

Fall colors are coming

The longer crisp nights and shorter sunny days of early autumn means it's time for the leaves to don their glorious fall colors.  The reds and golds are starting to show up here and there among the green leaves.   Some early leaves are starting to fall and accumulate on the lawn and along the roadside.  The tops of the trees have a hint of gold, giving us a taste of their brilliant fall coloring just a week or two away.

The woodbine on the Smith Lake shoreline is turning bright pink!

In the garden, the cheerful sunshine-yellow Brown-eyed Susans bob their heads in the breeze and say "Good-by" to summer!

Lunar eclipse

A once-in-a-lifetime lunar event happened this weekend.  The September 2015 full moon was a 'super moon', when the moon is at it's closest point to the earth in it's orbit.  Only 7% closer, but when the moon is on the horizon it certainly looks bigger than usual.

Saturday evening we zipped out onto the lake in the pontoon to snap a few photos of the moonrise.

Sunday evening we were treated to a complete lunar eclipse - and at a reasonable hour.   No trying to get up at 3AM for a glimpse.  The eclipse began as we were driving home from the Lake.  Clouds were gathering to the north, but cleared as we drove south.  The farm fields gave enough clear viewing that we were able to keep an eye on the disappearing orb in the sky.

At home in the city the trees are so tall and close to the house that we had a difficult time seeing. But the skies were still clear.  Finally, I had enough sense to grab a camera tripod and walk down the block and across the street to get a clear view of the moon, just as it reached total eclipse.  For those of you who had a cloudy evening -  here's what it looked like from Bloomington.  The photo was taken with the 'fireworks' setting on the camera.

It was so tempting to howl at the moon just for fun!  And I think some appropriate music for watching an eclipse would have been nice...Moon River?  Moonlight Serenade?  Cat Stevens- Moonshadow or Pink Floyd- Dark Side of the Moon?

I skipped out again just before heading to bed, and snapped this shot as the eclipse was nearly over.  The moon was too bright for the fireworks setting, so I tried 'night landscape' which had a shorter exposure time.

The end of a beautiful summer

September nights are cool at Smith Lake, and the days are noticeably shorter.  What happened to our 9 PM sunsets?  There is a hint of color in the leaves and soon their spectacular autumn display will arrive.  A boat trip out on the lake after dinner to drop a line is a quick trip these days.  Sunset comes before you know it.

Woody Woodpecker

Do you remember Woody Woodpecker from Saturday morning cartoons in the 1960's?  The cartoons were produced by the Walter Lantz animation studios.  Woody first appeared in 1940's film cartoons, and then from 1957 to 1972 on television.  The Woody Woodpecker Theme song was a 1948 hit, and was the only song from an animated short ever to be nominated for an Academy Award for Best Song!

The Pileated Woodpeckers frequent the Smith Lake area in the summertime, and my sister claims that their call sounds just like the Woody Woodpecker Theme!  Can you hear it in their song?  The pair near our cabin successfully raised two young this year and they are getting big!  All four were looking for bugs in the grass on Labor Day, but only two were willing to stay around for a photo.