We have not done this for some time.

Kids…Take a walk with me. Of course, you want to know where we are going. We’ll take a short walk to the lake. The air is fresh and clean, the temperature has warmed up to 25 degrees Fahrenheit and there is no wind. You can wear your regular hiking boots.

I am.

I have a destination in mind for us. Oh, a destination is a place to go.

Sure, I can tell you. We are going to the lake. We both like lakes. You can walk with me on “first ice.”

Hold on, come back…we will not walk on the ice if breaking through will happen. Yes, I am a bit nervous about it myself. But you know life is more exciting with a little adventure in each day. Consider this your adventure for the day. Besides we know that fresh air and exercise are among the best ways to stay healthy… Wouldn’t you agree?…staying healthy has certainly been on the minds of many these days.

Good, you are getting your boots on. Let’s go. Even if we find the ice is unsafe, we’ll have a great walk.

Look at that lake! The entire lake is covered in a fresh sheet of new ice. Let’s call it “first ice!” The early winter sunlight makes it shine. What did you say? You see some open water in the Northeast corner of the lake? Oh, no worries…we’ll stay on the south shore. We’ll be far away from liquid water. What we want is ice. Say, do you see the piles of ice near the shore? Someone who wanted to know how thick the ice is has been here before us. Look, the person drilled 6-7 holes in the ice…and they never fell through. Look do you see the ice in the holes? That means they drilled these holes yesterday. The ice is even thicker today.

Let’s go…we’ll stay close to the shore in shallow water. If we break through, we’ll only be up to our ankles. What’s that? That is not comforting? We can just walk out, then walk home. Yes, I know we’ll have cold feet, yes and wet too. But there are plenty of dry socks in the dresser drawer. Just stay 6 feet away from me. We know how to do that already…right?

Wow, this is what we came for…the “first ice” “shoreline sculpture.” I’ll take the pictures.  Few people will see what we are about to see. You never asked for it, but if you want my opinion, you will be glad you came. Look towards shore…

Can you say amazing? These formed in darkness…during the time of freezing temperature over night. While these formed the water of the lake cooled to below freezing and ice formed over the entire lake. The icicles came first-just before “first ice.” The lake water splashing on the shore slowly built these amazing formations. Good things do often take time. Patience is something we want…you and I. Time outside gives us models.

Thanks for walking with me…we’ll go again.