I woke up this morning, and embraced the fog. I dare you to find anyone who relishes spring fog as much as I do. Maybe except for Old Greg. He definitely loves fog. I drove my son to school this morning, as I normally do, but the trips of late have found a more focused driver behind the wheel. Not that I'm paying attention to the road necessarily, rather my eyes are darting back and forth, through the woods and the prairies, over fields and under bridges. My focus is sharp, and my vision narrowed. I'm watching snow, and piles of snow, and I'm watching them very closely. My reason? Well, for starters, I'm an unapologetic, post-January hater of snow. Holiday snow is great, but by February, I'm pretty much over winter and anxious for spring. And we all know who shows up once spring fades.



Piles of snow here and piles there. Snow cowering on the south side of roads, and littered over fields and yards, clinging to existence as if they can hold on forever. They are doomed piles, but wherever they may be- hiding in the shade, or pushed into drifts by the winter wind, they cannot outlast summer. This isn't Colorado, and I certainly have no use for spring snow. So the miserable leftovers of a forgettable winter might remain for a while longer, but the real enemy of a summer lover is the ice that holds my lovely lake hostage.

The ice this year has been particularly formidable, even though it arrived quite late in the season. Still, with warm, windy days, we'll get rid of that shroud of ice, and our lake will once again be returned to those of us who love it so dearly. A key ingredient to shedding ice is rain. Rain weakens ice like green glowing rocks weaken superman, and it's rain that I love in the spring. Don't get me wrong, I'm not really "in love" with rain, I'm just using her to get rid of my larger enemy, ice. Once the rain has done her job, I'll kick her out so fast it'll make her head spin. If I pass her on the street, I'll just stare right past her. I have little use for rain, and would prefer that she only show up when it's dark. I'm aware I need to stop assigning animation to inanimate objects.

All that to say this- it's time for another contest. My contests rarely go well. The goal is to endear through a fun process, but since no one has actually won a contest yet, it's a little disheartening. Hopefully this time, things will change. The spoils of a Neal Aspinall Lake Geneva Antique Boat Show print (like the one pictured here) will go to the person who correctly guesses the ice out date on Geneva. For the purposes of this competition, the ice out date will have arrived when the ice is broken up all the way to the Williams Bay shore. Since the ice in the bay is usually the last to go, this will be our criteria.

To reiterate. Send me an email containing the date that you think the ice will finely release it's numbing grip on Geneva Lake. Someone looking to win this fine print would do well to consult the forecast, and ideally look for a period of significant rain. In order to make this even easier, you should know that ice out last year was on 3/23. Best of luck, as I have a stable of these beautiful Lake Geneva prints, and I'm feeling a bit like an art glutton. Remember, these prints look particularly classy on the walls of Lake Geneva vacation homes, so if you don't have one of those yet, I know a guy who can help.