Ice Quake

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R eally, who knew? Neither John or I have ever heard of an ice quake. For me this is understandable but he is Mr. Nova.

Anyway yesterday morning he told me that at 11:15 after I had gone to sleep there was a loud sound like the front door slamming and the house shook. Yesterday morning I called our neighbor who we share a wall with to see if she was OK and she said it was probably an ice quake.

Google says...

  • An ice quake is caused by ice shifting on the lake. And is usually accompanied by loud cracking noises.
  • It happens more often at night when the temperature changes are stronger.
  • Apparently a lot of expansion and contraction happens out on the big ice sheets that cover Madison's lakes in winter. One of the most dramatic occurrences happened a little before noon on Jan.15, 1948, when seismographs measured a tremor at 3.8 on the Richter scale. The day after that tremor of 60 years ago, a group of geology students discovered "a four-foot overthrust in ice 1-1/2 feet thick.

I have generally been pretty oblivious to weather. That means I am rarely dressed correctly. But since moving here I am much more aware of the weather in general. And now I know about ice quakes.

Canoeing anyone?

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Not to be missed... someone was canoeing on Sunday when it was 11 degrees out. This is our first Winter living on Lake Monona and we are amazed as we watch people on the lake especially when it is not quite frozen over. We have seen people walk out to the middle and jump up and down. Go figure. I friend just told me that is God's way of weeding out the stupid.

Winter Solstice

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W inter Solstice always makes me happy. The dark days of Winter getting longer is the first sign that again this year there will be an end to Winter.

In trying to make new Christmas traditions this year Sunday night we went to the Olbrich Winter Solstice Bonfire. Madison is a city of neighborhoods and this was a neighborhood celebration. There was hot chocolate, and drumming and 10 ft tall puppets and a lovely Winter bonfire. About the time we were leaving it looked like the neighbors were dragging branches that fell during the recent storm to add to the bonfire.

Loved the ice candles that lit the way. These were made with water and pails. How simple, how fun, Martha would approve.

Very weird weather coming our way for Christmas... today snow, then freezing rain, then the standing water will turn to ice. We are staying home this holiday but now are wondering if the kids who were going to Iowa for Christmas may be here instead... or not at all. We were going to the Symphony Hymn Sing tonight but time will tell if we will get out or not... Very odd holiday weather... and it is odd when we Midwesterns change holiday travel plans. I remember one year driving home for Christmas on roads that had been officially closed but we didn't know it. And this was pre cell phones.

Let it snow, let it snow...

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T he weather man was asked this morning which is the best holiday travel day this week and he said yesterday. The lake is trying to ice over and is in some parts of the lake it already is dotted with ice fishing tents.

This strip of water will not ice over (I don't think) because that is at the mouth of the Yahara River, the creek-like river that connects Lake Monona with Lake Mendota.

More Winter Wonderland...

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O n Mondays John bell rings and sings Christmas carols for the Salvation Army in front of our little neighborhood grocery store. I went over with him and walked back. On the way I saw the this tree in a front yard decorated for Christmas. I am going to do that next year. We have a large bush outside our front door and we put all our mismatched lights on it. I think I'll add to that next year with some garland and non-breakable ornaments.

And I got to walk across this charming little bridge. Always a delight and even more so with snow gently falling. I love it that we live in a walking neighborhood. You see so much more that way.

Textures of Winter...

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PICTURES FROM OUR YARD... a little snowball at the end of a branch outside our front door.

Ice trying to form on the lake. Apparently the lake was frozen over by this time last year. I guess is varies from year to year.

This week we have a free pass to try out Capitol Lakes Aquatic Center. This is at an Independent Living Facility DT. A friend who swims there suggested it and said I would feel like an Olympic athlete since many who come to the pool are in wheel chairs.

I am doing this because we want to kayak or canoe next Summer and I don't swim. I am kind of panicky in the water. So I need to get over that. So John taught me how to tread water in the warm water pool. And then it all just made sense in my head and I swam. (Generally if I can think something thru I can do it and I could already dog paddle.) And this is my version of swimming because I don't want to put my face in the water. I just need to be able to do this well enough that I am not a danger to myself or others. I want to swim and water walk over the Winter because I screwed up my knee this Summer. I want to be back to normal by Spring so I can do a lot of biking next year. And this is a great thing to do in the dead of Winter...