[Gathnet] Cold Pond

[Jonathan Gathman]

Dear Gathnetters,
 You may have seen on the weather how cold it is out in the midwest and 
east.  Temps were 0 and -1 (F) for the last couple of nights in St. 
Louis.  I'm afraid that won't impress Aunt Grace and Uncle Dick, but it 
will probably impress the nascent West Coasters.  Needless to say, it's 
hard to keep things entirely toasty warm, even with a nice woodstove 
(stove is rated for 1600 sq ft, and the house is 2400).  Still, I'm sure 
we're paying a lot less for heating than everyone else... ;)   I was 
told from a friend in San Francisco area he's paying $500 a month in 
winter time... Yikes.  We only add at most $20-$30 from Spring-Fall 
usage for the times we use the electric furnace.

 But what I'm REALLY writing about is that, even with very cold weather, 
it give opportunity.  I was able to take the kids last night up to the 
pond which has quite a thick layer of ice.  I have bought a new 
flashlight this year, which is quite powerful... a spot light, really, 
and has an intense narrow beam.  Well, at night, we cleared away a 
dusting of snow, and were able to shine the light down into the ice.  We 
could see what appeared to be about 4-5 inches of clear ice (with 
bubbles), and a sudden break into a yellowish brown plane.  Clearly, the 
brown plane is the unfrozen water underneath (which still has 
"impurities", i.e. normal pond water).   I realize, of course, that 
optically, shining light through water or ice plays tricks with your 
perception of distance, etc, but it was fun nevertheless, and I was 
pretty confident that it would hold us.  BTW.  I always go first, with a 
rope attached to a tree.  I figure since I'm 2-3 times heavier than 
everyone else, if it holds me, it will hold them.  I take the rope with 
me, because they'll not be strong enough to drag me out if there's a 
problem, so I should be able, with a rope, get myself out before the 
water hits me badly if I already have the rope in my hand. :D

 The other fun part was that there was only a light dusting of snow, 
which made it perfect for "snow angels".  Perfect, because when to make 
it, it reveals the darker ice underneath, and has a lot more contrast 
visually than if you simply make ones in snow only. :)

 Don't have pictures, because the video camera is the only one that can 
shoot with InfraRed (night shooting), and it's batteries were dead.

 The opportunity is that when the pond is frozen, it's the only time you 
can trim up some of the branches of overhanging bushes and trees, or at 
least it's the only safe way.  I can't imagine it's very safe to use a 
chain saw while standing in a canoe... Probably not a good idea.  ;)  
I'm sure some idiot has tried it, but I don't aspire to that idiocy, 
even as a chance to show up on "Funniest home videos".

  Eliott and Lauren are at Bible Quiz this morning, so Josiah and I went 
up to do "Pond work" this morning.  I'm sure I looked a little funny 
standing on a step ladder on the pond under a tree that leans over, 
sawing off a branch that hangs too low... :D  Perhaps you think that 
lines up with the canoe type, but at least a step ladder has four legs.  
And I used a hand saw, which takes longer, but doesn't cut your leg off 
if you run into an issue.  The other nice thing is that it's easy to 
move all the cut and trimmed branches, because you can drag them 
straight over the pond, instead of winding your way through the dense 
woods on the side.

 I tried to remember the branches that caught fishing lines the worst 
during the summer, got rid of a number of wild grapes, (which tend to 
kill the trees, and looks bad) and also tried to trim up various trees 
and stuff to look more picturesque.  While we were working, 
"Temperatures soared" up to 35 or so, starting a bit of a melt.  I 
wasn't worried until the ice cracked and made a very loud noise.  A 
little unnerving.  There was plenty of stability still, but I decided 
that it was time to call it a day, just in case.

 I had always read of spring in northern states where rivers froze, 
etc.  In Spring, the first couple warm days, the ice will make all those 
cracking sounds, which are loud, but welcome for the cold-bound 
northerners.  I guess this was a mini-spring thaw, or at least enough to 
experience a bit of what they describe.

 Anyway, it's a bit more fun than I've had to write for a bit, and hope 
you enjoyed.

 Well, time to have a snack, and work on a trailer hitch I bought myself 
for Christmas.. Need to modify it to work on the tractor slightly.

Take care, y'all, and keep warm,

Jonathan