It has been a long
time since I have been down to the cabin at Lake Fort Scott; winter has been
either too cold or we have been traveling and trying to get things done. But
this weekend, with Pat out of the country, and the weather predicted to be in
the mid-40s, I thought it was a good time to come down and clean up a little
and winterize the house – or at least empty and turn off the refrigerator, both
to keep stuff from going bad and keep our electric bill down, as it is old and
inefficient -- in case we don’t come back for a while. As it turns out, we had
guests a few weeks back and they left it cleaner than I ever do, so it is
mostly shoveling out leaves and dirt from behind the house, and picking up
stray branches.
My neighbors had
written to me that there were flocks of geese gathered in
front of my house, which apparently was the only unfrozen part of the lake
(some combination, I guess, of shallowness and where the sun shines). When I
got here mid-day on Saturday, it was obvious. Hundreds of geese sitting on the
ice, but close to the open water to swim and feed. And, as the day warmed up
into the mid 40s, the ope
n patch of water began to expand, and by sunset the
amount of ice for the geese to sit on began to decrease. I was told that they
put up a great racket at night, and I guess they might, but I didn’t hear them
enough to bother my sleep!
And then, this
morning, walking the dogs this morning the open area seemed even bigger. OK, let’s get this straight. Giving
permission for the dogs to go on a walk, especially Fry. They won’t leave the
area around the house alone, but will
jump all over me to accompany them up the drive and to the road. Once there,
however, while Yonkel will usually stay with me, or near enough to come when
called, Fry is gone and one his own and comes back when he is good and ready. A
great blue heron sat on the edge of the lake as we returned, and when startled
by us, took off, scattering geese! 
And now, at 11:30am,
and temperatures in the low 50s, there is almost more water than ice! This afternoon
it is supposed to get up to 61, so I imagine that this pattern will just
increase. And the day is sunny, so it would be a lovely time to sit on the deck
and read and watch the geese and the dogs cavort – were it not for the really
high wind that makes being outside kind of unpleasant. I guess I’ll watch from
inside. And soon time for lunch and a nap.
THEN I’ll clean out the refrigerator!
