Althouse: Meade walked across Lake Mendota today and sent me sunset photos from somewhere near the middle.

February 4, 2026

Meade walked across Lake Mendota today and sent me sunset photos from somewhere near the middle.

It was about 5:05 in the afternoon:

Open thread in the comments. Write about whatever you want.

115 comments:

Original Mike said...: Where did he walk from and to?; 2/4/26, 7:25 PM
Peachy said...: Freaky scene... that last image of the sun.
The water does not look frozen.; 2/4/26, 7:34 PM
Kakistocracy said...: JD Vance is not in the Epstein Flies. Could he still be the Republican nominee in 2028?; 2/4/26, 7:40 PM
Tom Grey said...: When I walked across a much smaller lake, it had a great deep resonant boom sound. It also combined a feeling, maybe subsonic.; 2/4/26, 7:44 PM
Mark said...: I think one can call oneself a Sconnie after that.

Its a cool experience. A few years ago my daughter and I stated out to the middle of Monona the year they had that super clear ice. It was incredible skating such a giant rink and one you are most of a mile from shore it starts to feel it.; 2/4/26, 7:51 PM
Beasts of England said...: I remember skating on a frozen pond when I was a little Beast in Virginia, but I didn’t have the fear of breaking through the ice and enjoying hypothermia back then… lol; 2/4/26, 8:08 PM
Bob Boyd said...: Love it.; 2/4/26, 8:08 PM
DINKY DAU 45 said...: MY next wager while I am waiting for some thoroughbred action later in month is $400 to win on the Kelly vs Hegseth case where the judge Richard Leon, a republican put up by Bush, will issue a high profile legal defeat for the War Department. Obviously this case was a never win deal it was only to try and embarrass Kelly as trump likes to do but I am seeing at least 87% chance Judge calls this bullcrap as it is and states the executive branch does not has the power to discipline a sitting lawmaker for political speech. There is not precedent for this demotion put forth by Hegseth who is definitely in this gig over his head. I believe there will be a decision mid month of February. Another trump bogus retaliatory move that will be defeated Kelly will not get his pension or rank decreased and this was always a 1st amendment rights case telling the truth about "its your duty to disobey ILLEGAL "orders .its written for goodness sakes. What is the matter with these very ill people?This will be one of my easiest wagers to WIN this betting season.; 2/4/26, 8:08 PM
Ann Althouse said...: I think he walked from Lot 61 to Governor Nelson State Park and back. Over 10 miles counting the walk to the lake. You can see the crack in the lake and he described booming noises.; 2/4/26, 8:11 PM
Jimmy said...: Have no experience with weather cold enough to freeze a lake. But I hope he went with someone? seems dangerous in the extreme, if he catches a soft spot and falls in.
Beautiful photos.; 2/4/26, 8:15 PM
Beasts of England said...: Tourist update from the big city: the husband bought himself a decent looking fake Rolex Cosmograph for $135. And they hit the Ritz Carlton at Central Park for early drinks. Incredible views from the bar, which must be fifty stories or so above the park. I could handle that… :); 2/4/26, 8:15 PM
Bob Boyd said...: Not today, Icehole.; 2/4/26, 8:24 PM
Leland said...: Meade playing with ice.; 2/4/26, 8:30 PM
Bob Boyd said...: How do you catch a polar bear?

You make a hole in the ice, then you put peas around the hole.
When he comes to take a pea, you kick him in the ice hole.; 2/4/26, 8:34 PM
Original Mike said...: "I think he walked from Lot 61 to Governor Nelson State Park and back."

Ahh. Did he wear something like YakTrax? The ice looks pretty slick.; 2/4/26, 8:41 PM
Original Mike said...: "seems dangerous in the extreme, if he catches a soft spot and falls in."

With the temperatures we've had lately, there aren't any soft spots.; 2/4/26, 8:44 PM
Big Mike said...: Took the wife to see “Melania.” As a person she comes across as very intelligent and detail-oriented but very comfortable with her power. Her husband listens her advice. Smart man; 2/4/26, 8:59 PM
James said...: Just curious if you or Meade ever see turtles under the ice. Some are still active even under the ice, managing to breathe through their butts (kind of). Snappers are known for that, but I've never personally seen that.; 2/4/26, 9:02 PM
Dave Begley said...: Creighton basketball player, Josh Dix, lost his mother to cancer early this morning. But he played tonight even though he has had the flu. He also played well. I’ve liked this kid’s game from the beginning.

Josh is from Council Bluffs, Iowa which is across the River from Omaha. Creighton recruited him but he went to Iowa where he did well both academically and athletically. But his coach got fired so he transferred to Creighton.

Our coach said that if the Iowa coach wouldn’t have been fired, Josh would have stayed and started at Iowa. But with his transfer to CU, he got to spend way more time with his mom.

Last Sunday was the “Pink Out” game which is a huge deal in Omaha. Another player on our team, Blake Harper, had lost his mom to cancer. What are the odds on a team of 16?

But after watching the LLY CEO this morning, I know that America will continue to make great strides in cancer treatment.; 2/4/26, 9:25 PM
Big Mike said...: I should add that the theater was packed. Row 1 was empty, and maybe ten or a dozen open singles in the rest of the theater. Patrons were mostly Boomers or late Gen-X, it uou’d expect that for a mid-week matinee.; 2/4/26, 9:25 PM
wildswan said...: Just got an immovable State Dept. Advisory urging me to check for the updates on travel advisories. It went right across my game and couldn't be closed. Is there thin ice somewhere even if Lake Mendota is safe?
Amazing pictures. And I like the videos. I don't know why 60s music seems so appropriate. Two exciting things?; 2/4/26, 9:25 PM
AZ Bob said...: Excellent video Meade. Good choice of music too.; 2/4/26, 9:42 PM
Wince said...: Watch killer whales coordinating their “wave washing” technique of hunting seals on the pack ice. Amazing mammal!

https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=H7eRM8ZqwrA; 2/4/26, 9:46 PM
Josephbleau said...: “ Just curious if you or Meade ever see turtles under the ice. Some are still active even under the ice, managing to breathe through their butts (kind of). Snappers are known for that, but I've never personally seen that.”

I guess if “snapper“ can breathe from their butts, that explains why oral sex is possible, but I have never personally seen that either. I will say that I will be here all week.; 2/4/26, 9:47 PM
Lem Vibe Bandit said...: YouTube: The complexity of nudging Bob Dylan to up-and-coming generations of Americans

If Penn Jillette can't put his pinkie on it, nobody can.; 2/4/26, 10:16 PM
Mr. T. said...: Well well well...

Professional child mutilation trans cult grifter, Jess Ting, caught giving preferencial hospital access to Epstein and his..."associates."

Someone let KKKak/Richsockpuppet/paidActbluetrollaccount know, since he is no doubt busy helping coordinating with his overlords the next assault and obstruction on citizens exercising their first amendment rights in their own church, and is liable to miss this revelation.; 2/4/26, 10:17 PM
Jupiter said...: Forgive me, I'm obsessing, in my own small way. I have had the hook from this song in the back of my mind, forever. But it's an Australian hit from 1971, when I was 17, so I never really studied the song. I heard it, I was aware of it, but -- whatever.

But I recently came upon a link to it, and immediately realized that it had been rattling around in the back of mind for forever, undigested. And now, I am trying to make sense of it. It is dumb as a box on first acquaintance, but here are subtleties. I'm not going to try to say, that this is a masterpiece. But listen to what is going on, behind the rhythm guitar. There is a walking bass line. But there is also a walking line, a couple octaves higher, that would be a lead line, if it weren't so unassuming. And the rhythm guitar is single-picking, in what could almost be a lead, if it were more over-the top.
Hey, it's no work of genius. But it's actually intricate. It's not just three chords with an idiot singing.
OK. I've listened to it four or five more times, and It's a work of genius. I wish I could quote it.; 2/4/26, 11:00 PM
Lem Vibe Bandit said...: YouTube: The Rise of Cry Bullies

A clip discussing empathy study. Bret and wife... Heather.; 2/4/26, 11:14 PM
Colleen Brown said...: Be careful Meade!; 2/4/26, 11:30 PM
Jupiter said...: 1971. I remember now. Sitting in a room, in a building in Vermont, while a series of dates were announced over the radio. The draft lottery. I was only 17. but everyone else in the room was 18, and they were listening to the voice of Fate. If you heard your birthday, early in the presentation, then you were Fated. Ask not ...; 2/4/26, 11:31 PM
Jupiter said...: What your country can do for you. Or for whom the bell tolls.
Actually, I was only 16, because it was in January. It seemed like it mattered, a lot, and it probably did. At the same time, it was a social function. We got together in a room to listen to the draft lottery. Not the SuperBowl. There were no advertisements. It was broadcast as a public service.; 2/4/26, 11:37 PM
Jupiter said...: I don't know how the Australians decided who to send to Viet Nam, but they certainly sent a lot of young men to Viet Nam. But they also made a gigantic hit out of Eagle Rock. And rightly so. If your country hadn't arbitrarily selected you to get the shit shot out of you, then you could see the attraction of the Eagle Rock.; 2/4/26, 11:42 PM
Jupiter said...: Being a rock song, it needed a lead verse, but apparently Daddy Cool didn't have a lead guitarist. So, they put in a kind of a lame finger-jiggle on the upper end of the neck, and then jangled some chords, to fill the requisite time-slot. Personnel is policy. But the composition transcends its creators limitations. I don't know what it means, but it certainly doesn't mean what it appears to mean. What it purports to mean. It means something totally different. And I mean that same thing.; 2/4/26, 11:54 PM
Lem Vibe Bandit said...: M&M people are not people from Minneapolis Minnesota. That’s a load off.; 2/5/26, 12:02 AM
gadfly said...: Stephen Colbert asked a fake Melania if Donald had attended the opening of "Melania" and she responded that he hadn't attended her opening in over ten years.; 2/5/26, 12:20 AM
wendybar said...: And you wonder why his ratings suck and his show is going off the air (not soon enough) gad???; 2/5/26, 2:08 AM
wendybar said...: Put these Pedophiles in prison!!! (isn't that how we do this?)

Nicholas Fondacaro
@NickFondacaro
·
BREAKING: Multiple cast members of The View are mentioned in the Epstein Files.
-Whoopi Goldberg is mentioned nearly 2 dozen times (21).
-Alyssa Farah Griffin 20 times
-Joy Behar 3 times.
-Ana Navarro twice
-Sunny Hostin 0
-Sara Haines 0
1:31 PM · Feb 4, 2026

https://x.com/NickFondacaro/status/2019116676911173894?s=20; 2/5/26, 2:31 AM
wendybar said...: Steve Byrne
@stevebyrnelive
·
14h
I got pulled over by the cops for speeding. Cop said it’s illegal.
I told him, nothing is illegal on stolen land. I just got out of jail.

https://x.com/stevebyrnelive/status/2019132064352829628?s=20; 2/5/26, 3:38 AM
Breezy said...: Love the last photo with the dissected and distorted sun. Great range of textures top to bottom.; 2/5/26, 5:12 AM
Political Junkie said...: Pretty. I would be too afraid to walk across a frozen lake. Bravo Meade!; 2/5/26, 5:22 AM
Humperdink said...: Two years ago or so, a healthcare administrator from Children’s Hospital of Pittsburgh (UPMC Children’s) spoke at a conference telling the attendees that if you perform tranny surgery on a child, you have patient for life. The money stream would be never ending.

Last summer, UPMC Children’s stopped tranny surgery for children under 19. Now they are being sued by the Women’s Law Project for discrimination. Oh what a tangled web we weave …….

https://triblive.com/local/complaint-filed-against-upmc-childrens-for-denying-transgender-youths-gender-affirming-care/; 2/5/26, 5:42 AM
Dave Begley said...: Humperdink: A law had to be passed to stop the University of Nebraska Medical Center from doing “gender-affirming” surgery.; 2/5/26, 5:46 AM
Chest Rockwell said...: These are great. Looks like an alien landscape.; 2/5/26, 5:54 AM
Chest Rockwell said...: Anyone ever read To Build a Fire by Jack London? One slip up and your dead man.; 2/5/26, 6:00 AM
Humperdink said...: This is hilarious. Up and coming Democrat star Maryland Wes Moore:

“Moore falsely claimed that he was born and grew up in Baltimore, which he did not; that he was inducted into the Maryland College Football Hall of Fame, an organization that doesn't exist; that he received a Bronze Star for his service in Afghanistan, which he had not; that in 2006 he was considered a foremost expert on radical Islam based on his graduate thesis, which he never submitted to Oxford University's library and can no longer locate; that he was a doctoral candidate at Oxford in 2006, a claim he has no documentation to support and on which Oxford refuses to comment; and that he had "a difficult childhood in the Bronx and Baltimore" despite attending New York City's elite, private Riverdale Country School—where John F. Kennedy went to school—as a child and not living in Baltimore until college, when he attended Johns Hopkins University, another elite private school.“

https://freebeacon.com/democrats/wes-moore-says-the-kkk-chased-his-great-grandfather-out-of-south-carolina-historical-records-tell-a-different-story/; 2/5/26, 6:28 AM
Humperdink said...: “Maryland Governor Wes Moore”; 2/5/26, 6:29 AM
narciso said...: Hmm

https://x.com/anna_trades/status/2018872685606953419; 2/5/26, 6:40 AM
R C Belaire said...: Appropriate soundtrack while walking on thin ice...; 2/5/26, 6:42 AM
R C Belaire said...: We have a place on a lake in Northern Michigan and I don't venture out on the ice until after the fish shanties appear.; 2/5/26, 6:44 AM
Jaq said...: I used to feel, when walking on ice like that, that the snow part was safer than the clear parts, which was nonsense, of course, but I felt it nonetheless and would walk to stay on the snow. Something about being able to see through the ice made it hard to walk on.; 2/5/26, 6:45 AM
Jaq said...: I wait for the pickup trucks to appear. And that's not a perfect method, because sometimes they go through, on a large lake, the wind shifts the ice and creates cracks that can be pretty wide, and then freeze over a lot thinner. I remember being out one time and there was an otter that would dive into one of these cracks, this one was small, and appear back on the ice, sometimes to eat a fish, sometimes to catch his breath.; 2/5/26, 6:48 AM
Mr. Forward said...: “ Meade walked across Lake Mendota today…”
What makes you think it was on the ice?; 2/5/26, 7:02 AM
JZ said...: Good for Meade. Really! Just getting dressed is an accomplishment these days in places like Michigan and Wisconsin.; 2/5/26, 7:41 AM
MadTownGuy said...: @Humperdink, No Wes, no Moore.; 2/5/26, 7:44 AM
Kakistocracy said...: I said it then. I'll say it now. Approving crypto ETFs was a mistake.

There still isn’t any inherent value to Bitcoin to justify any price above $0. Even less so when it is intangible.

The Onion put it very well: "Crypto Leaders Call For Infusion Of 20 Million Dopes To Stabilize Market"; 2/5/26, 7:55 AM
Beasts of England said...: We have another pro bass tournament on the lake the next four days, this one the Bassmasters Elite. They’re launching about eight miles upriver from me at Goose Pond Colony, in Scottsboro*, and they’re live-streaming it. It’s very cool, as they have several drone cameras in the air showing the lake houses and shoreline.

It’s still cold this morning and there is a little ice remaining in the shadier parts of the lake, although it’ll be closer to sixty degrees tomorrow. Water temp is 39°. Ugh. 101 boats launched about an hour again, and imagine they’ll be working down river later this morning.

*yes, boys, that Scottsboro…; 2/5/26, 8:01 AM
Leland said...: Kakistocracy said...
I said it then. I'll say it now.

I think Foghorn Leghorn might have a copyright claim against you.; 2/5/26, 8:04 AM
Achilles said...: Kakistocracy said...

I said it then. I'll say it now. Approving crypto ETFs was a mistake.

There still isn’t any inherent value to Bitcoin to justify any price above $0. Even less so when it is intangible.

The Onion put it very well: "Crypto Leaders Call For Infusion Of 20 Million Dopes To Stabilize Market"

Well. That was stupid. I love it when retards refer to The Onion for support.

Crypto currencies are the future. The main benefit is that the fraud is open for everyone to see.

The Fed is just mad they will be replaced and can't enrich themselves anymore.; 2/5/26, 8:06 AM
boatbuilder said...: There still isn’t any inherent value to Bitcoin to justify any price above $0. Even less so when it is intangible.

You, and your financial advisers at The Onion, know almost as much about Bitcoin as you do about tariffs.

Now tell us about the "inherent value" of the dollar.; 2/5/26, 8:17 AM
Beasts of England said...: ’There still isn’t any inherent value to Bitcoin…’

Sounds like an Inverse Kak buy signal!! lol; 2/5/26, 8:20 AM
Eva Marie said...: Mike Benz asks Republicans to get serious about censorship:
https://x.com/mikebenzcyber/status/2019340120722141203?s=46; 2/5/26, 8:22 AM
Peachy said...: did anyone say "more cowbell" yet?; 2/5/26, 8:28 AM
Jaq said...: The inherent value of the dollar derives from our military, which can make people who threaten to free themselves from the yoke of it pay a terrible price, like Mooamar what's his name, who ended up pretty butt hurt after trying to free Libya from the dollar.; 2/5/26, 8:30 AM
Curious George said...: "Original Mike said...
"seems dangerous in the extreme, if he catches a soft spot and falls in."

With the temperatures we've had lately, there aren't any soft spots."

Not true.; 2/5/26, 8:31 AM
Joe Bar said...: We used to stud our dirt bike tires with sheet metal screws and skid all over our local lake in the winter. The lake association eventually tired of our antics, and banned it.; 2/5/26, 8:32 AM
boatbuilder said...: Wince--that is an amazing video about the killer whales.

If they were really that smart, though, they would have had one whale hang around the ice floe and the other three make the waves; and that one would catch the seal when it hit the water.
So they get an A minus.; 2/5/26, 8:38 AM
Jersey Fled said...: An anonymous source told me Kak is in the Epstein files under a previous name.; 2/5/26, 8:40 AM
Beasts of England said...: We’ve had our first BFA (Big Fish Alert) of the morning: 6 lb., 10 oz.; 2/5/26, 8:40 AM
Jaq said...: When bitcoin gets a world-wide military to threaten and cajole with, it can be a "fiat currency" like the dollar too. Trying to buy a barrel of oil without using US dollars is fraught with risk. That's a trick bitcoin can't pull. People don't understand how the dollar really works. Also, when bitcoin gets an armed government that can force workers in a country of 350 million or so pay tribute to it denominated in bitcoin...; 2/5/26, 8:42 AM
Bob Boyd said...: @ Achilles

Read this take including some of the discussion below the initial post. I don't pretend to fully understand this, but you might get more out of it if you're a crypto guy.

https://x.com/PortfolioXpert/status/2019180840958529601; 2/5/26, 8:43 AM
Jaq said...: Check out this seven pounder a Vermonter caught in a pond, he filleted it before it could be officially weighed, or he would have had a state record:

https://vnews.com/2025/10/13/unofficial-record-smallmouth-bass/

It's like the joke "How do you know On Golden Pond was not filmed in Vermont? Because they would have ate Walter."; 2/5/26, 8:45 AM
Jaq said...: The risk to the dollar is that it is being stretched too far, and that our military dominance is coming under question, hence it is becoming more and more pure fiat.; 2/5/26, 8:47 AM
Joe Bar said...: MOAR Blue Oyster Cult!; 2/5/26, 8:47 AM
Beasts of England said...: Seven pounds is a legit smallmouth. Hope it tasted good!!; 2/5/26, 8:50 AM
Kakistocracy said...: Achilles writes: "Crypto currencies are the future."

The problem with crypto is its not currency. It is not backed by the full faith and credit of a nation state. It is just a digital unit of account with nothing behind it other than the greater fool theory.

But, the fundamentals.... /s

This is hugely enjoyable to watch. Putting the “fun” and “mental” back in “fundamentals”.

Just another $70,141.40 to fall to reach fair market value based on the underlying value and the cash flow.; 2/5/26, 8:51 AM
Kakistocracy said...: Given his family’s interests in crypto, it will be interesting to see if Trump attempts something “spectacular” to reflate the bubble…; 2/5/26, 8:54 AM
Beasts of England said...: Angler Hank Cherry - who won the 2020 Bassmasters Classic here and its $300k check - is in my backyard. (Okay, the lake in my backyard.) He’ll probably scoot around Buck Island next and over to Alred Marina, and then to the Hwy. 69 causeway where he slayed them in 2020.; 2/5/26, 9:06 AM
Lazarus said...: It's nice that he managed to send you the photos before disappearing under the frozen lake.; 2/5/26, 9:10 AM
Narr said...: Late start today.; 2/5/26, 9:24 AM
Rustygrommet said...: FYI.
So you can quit worrying if Meade is going through the ice.

Copilot Search Branding

Ice Thickness and Temperature Guidelines
Ice thickness is the primary factor for safety, but temperature and other conditions strongly influence how thick ice must be to support your activity.

How Temperature Affects Ice Growth
For clear, snow-free freshwater ice, a common rule-of-thumb is:
Ice growth ≈ 0.50 × √(Freezing Degree Days) Calculator Academy.
Freezing Degree Days (FDD) = (32 − average temperature) × number of days at that temperature.
Example: At 20°F for 5 days → FDD = (32 − 20) × 5 = 60 → thickness ≈ 0.50 × √60 ≈ 3.87 inches Calculator Academy.
This formula works best for clear ice; snow cover, wind, and currents can slow or speed up growth.

For natural ice, you can also use a simplified formula:
Ice Thickness ≈ k × √FDD, where k is a coefficient (often 2 for natural ice) whycalculator.com.
Example: 20°F for 10 days → FDD = 120 → thickness ≈ 2 × √120 ≈ 21.9 cm (8.6 inches)

We've had weeks here where the temps never got up to the 30s. Proceed accordingly.; 2/5/26, 9:28 AM
Eva Marie said...: If those photos of the sunset were taken in the middle of the walk back (I’m assuming), then the rest of the walk must have been done in the dark and ever increasing cold. Yikes.; 2/5/26, 9:29 AM
Beasts of England said...: Aptly named angler Fisher Anaya just landed an 8 lb., 0 oz. thumper…; 2/5/26, 9:39 AM
Narr said...: I followed Jupiter's link, and didn't recognize the song, the video, or the band, but apparently they were pretty successful and now every tenth offering on my YouTube feed is something to do with them.

My lottery number (in '72 IIRC) was 310 IIRC.; 2/5/26, 9:49 AM
The judge said...: Agree with Big Mike re: “Melania” except it could have been even better if we had heard from Barron and given some insight into Melania’s relationships with Don Jr, Erik and Ivanka.; 2/5/26, 9:52 AM
Original Mike said...: "My lottery number (in '72 IIRC) was 310 IIRC."

78 in 1974.; 2/5/26, 10:03 AM
Curious George said...: Meade bring these along. If you go through you'll have a fighting chance of getting out. https://th.bing.com/th/id/OPHS.9YAwD8xnfMWeng474C474?w=592&h=550&o=5&dpr=1.5&pid=21.1; 2/5/26, 10:09 AM
buwaya said...: Curious fact that the first bit of major political fallout of the Epstein files will be in the UK. Starmer is looking very shaky on account of Mandelson.
Some people are even saying that this may somehow force a general election.
I dont know how a Starmer resignation, not requiring a vote of no confidence, would force an election. Labour should (assuming it doesnt collapse into madness) be able to find another PM and reshuffle the cabinet.
But who knows.; 2/5/26, 10:44 AM
Fred Drinkwater said...: Sunset? SUNSET? ... the hell?
My gast is flabbered.

Also: Be careful out there!; 2/5/26, 10:56 AM
Big Mike said...: @judge, agreed.; 2/5/26, 11:07 AM
Jersey Fled said...: Looks like our friend Ilhan might be getting closer to that midnight escape to Somalia..

https://x.com/wallstreetapes/status/2019425793722753462?s=61; 2/5/26, 11:09 AM
wendybar said...: Laura Powell
@LauraPowellEsq
·
12h
I hope Trump’s strong support of the Guthrie family doesn’t provoke Democrats to come out in favor of kidnapping elderly women.

https://x.com/LauraPowellEsq/status/2019271171838210342?s=20; 2/5/26, 11:14 AM
Meade said...: Sorry to be getting here so late. Complicated business.
Thanks to everyone with compliments and concerns. Much appreciated. I walked from University Heights (near the Chancellor’s House) to Lot 60 (which we’ve inside jokingly referred to as “highway 61” for so long now that we often forget and seriously call it Lot 61). So the boat launch there, out onto very safe thick ice, looping out and around Picnic Point, and then straight to the boat launch at Gov Nelson State Park. It did get dark and less warm as I made the return trek, following back my path out. The beauty and grandeur of ice and sky was beyond photography — the bright glimmer of Venus, the dim but recognizable familiarity of old friend Orion’s belt of 3 stars. For traction I wore something like these:

https://www.uline.com/Product/Detail/S-25367-L/Foot-Protection/Stabilicers-Ice-Traction-Cleats-Large?pricode=WC4733&gadtype=pla&id=S-25367-L&gad_source=1&gad_campaignid=12158643340&gbraid=0AAAAAD_uetMqWZoA-VHogQkvcEkky67IW&gclid=Cj0KCQiAnJHMBhDAARIsABr7b87laEXW-XtiE4bHJUK8KmgtW6MwhGD06zhTpSBQKeI9DFKsElCVnNsaAhbFEALw_wcB

For safety I carried these:

https://www.cabelas.com/p/ht-enterprises-polar-ice-safety-picks?ds_e=GOOGLE&ds_c=Cabelas%7CShopping%7CPMax%7CFishing%7CGeneral%7CNAud%7CGoogle%7CNMT&gclsrc=aw.ds&gad_source=1&gad_campaignid=20046765526&gclid=Cj0KCQiAnJHMBhDAARIsABr7b86thR4fmpyHdnLP2XJVz7I5pGym-AjwGQNh-jlYtyax1HQmGbjJ6rcaAjpyEALw_wcB

I told two people where I was, where I was heading to, and when I planned to return. My phone was fully charged and I uploaded videos to YouTube from the middle of the lake almost instantly. Total miles out and back: 10.5
If necessary, I could’ve gone another 2 miles but possibly not 3.
Slept like a puppy; can’t wait to go again.; 2/5/26, 11:20 AM
Meade said...: PS: https://www.cleanlakesalliance.org/ice-on-lake-mendota/; 2/5/26, 11:23 AM
Smilin' Jack said...: I always wanted to try that when I lived in Madison. But not enough to actually do it.; 2/5/26, 11:29 AM
Ann Althouse said...: "... which we’ve inside jokingly referred to as “highway 61” for so long now that we often forget and seriously call it Lot 61..."

LOL!; 2/5/26, 11:32 AM
Ann Althouse said...: I've got forty red white and blue shoestrings and a thousand telephones that don’t ring. Do you know where I can get rid of these things?; 2/5/26, 11:39 AM
Bob Boyd said...: can’t wait to go again

Lot 61 Revisited; 2/5/26, 11:55 AM
Original Mike said...: "The beauty and grandeur of ice and sky was beyond photography — the bright glimmer of Venus, the dim but recognizable familiarity of old friend Orion’s belt of 3 stars."

I used to walk out onto Lake Monona to stargaze. Grand vistas.; 2/5/26, 11:59 AM
Original Mike said...: I figured you meant the lot which, now that I look it up, is Lot 130.; 2/5/26, 12:02 PM
Smilin' Jack said...: “It did get dark and less warm as I made the return trek, following back my path out. The beauty and grandeur of ice and sky was beyond photography — the bright glimmer of Venus…”

That was likely Jupiter—Venus sets before it gets very dark these days.; 2/5/26, 12:03 PM
Original Mike said...: Good catch. Venus would have been following directly behind the sun in the west (from the pictures, it would have been in the clouds.). Jupiter would have been at about 30-degrees of altitude in the ESE.; 2/5/26, 12:25 PM
Mr. T. said...: KKKak/Richsockpuppet/paidActbluetrollaccount said:
"I said it then. I'll say it now."

Except you didn't say it then when it was Sam Brinkman-Fried and his corrupt hackademic parents.

By all means, please tell us what was the (D)ifference back then that lead to your profound silence..."; 2/5/26, 12:54 PM
Meade said...: Are you Sirius?; 2/5/26, 12:55 PM
Meade said...: “Lot 61 Revisited“

LOL X2; 2/5/26, 1:00 PM
john mosby said...: Oh oh - Meade said where you want this killin done....CC, JSM; 2/5/26, 1:39 PM
Original Mike said...: "Are you Sirius?"

Scorpius.; 2/5/26, 2:27 PM
Curious George said...: "I told two people where I was, where I was heading to, and when I planned to return."

So they know where to dive?

I've gone through lake ice at my lake home up near Minoqua. It happened in January, bitter cold. Plenty of ice. One second you're walking, next in the water. The cold is shocking, hard to beath. I was lucky to be in a shallow area, water was up to my chest. It still wasn't easy to get out, you weight a ton when you waterlogged. I've gone ice fishing a few times since then, but always with the spikes and with another person. If you don't have to go on lake ice, don't.; 2/5/26, 2:37 PM
Kakistocracy said...: I hope this is the beginning of the end for cryptocurrencies as people realize they are empty speculation vehicles and a means to finance illegal enterprises and nothing more.

Unfortunately regulatory crackdowns are not likely under the Trump administration in the US, given the massive campaign contributions by the crypto industry, but that along with declining investor interest, particularly among institutional investors, could see the whole industry fade to black.; 2/5/26, 4:28 PM
Leland said...: An illegal immigrant with a commercial driver's license from a blue sanctuary state brings the death count equal to ICE in just one incident.

However, there wasn't a half dozen "protestors" filming the event, so we can't go frame by frame to determine if the 4 innocent people did enough to swerve out of the way of the semi that cut into on-coming traffic, so don't expect outrage or prolonged news coverage.; 2/5/26, 5:28 PM
Mason G said...: "An illegal immigrant with a commercial driver's license from a blue sanctuary state brings the death count equal to ICE in just one incident."

It's the price Democrats would have you pay in order to pad census counts to get them more seats in congress.; 2/5/26, 6:01 PM
Rustygrommet said...: Original Mike said...
"My lottery number (in '72 IIRC) was 310 IIRC."

78 in 1974."

323 in '72'.
I was 20 years old and 1A.; 2/5/26, 6:10 PM
Rustygrommet said...: "Where you want this killin' done?"
"Out on lot 61"; 2/5/26, 6:12 PM
Meade said...: I was born in 1954 and my draft lottery number happened to come up 003. But I never registered with Selective Service out of resistance to the unjust US military/industrial war in Vietnam. Even if there is no statute of limitation on the felony I intentionally committed, at my present advanced age, I’ll still pay the fine and do the time, a principle I adopted with my youth minister when I was 15 during Methodist church confirmation classes. Yes, I can be very stubborn about a few things.; 2/5/26, 7:36 PM
Curious George said...: "Even if there is no statute of limitation on the felony I intentionally committed, at my present advanced age, I’ll still pay the fine and do the time, a principle I adopted with my youth minister when I was 15 during Methodist church confirmation classes."

You have to know Jimmy Carter gave all who evaded the draft an unconditional pardon in 1977.; 2/6/26, 2:32 AM
Meade said...: But George, I never evaded the draft law. I consciously intentionally disobeyed it. I refused to comply. I did not evade, run, hide, or seek deferment.
I also didn’t desert. I never burned Old Glory, never burned a draft card. Never spit on or taunted a United States serviceman.
I was never issued a draft card. Nor was I ever formally charged with my felony crime. The government has simply never come for me. I assume it still could, anytime it wishes to.
I did not vote for Jimmy Carter in 1976 and so, though far from spotless, my conscience is clear enough to allow me to sleep enough nearly every night.
Still love the Lord my God, my country, my family and friends. Always will.; 2/6/26, 5:07 AM