It is cold here in Virginia, as it has been throughout much of the country for much of the week. Taking advantage of the fact that the mercury actually rose out of the 20s a few hours after sunrise, I ventured out this morning for a walk around the lake. It’s frozen. All the way across, although not nearly solid enough for skating. Some curious youngsters had chucked pencil box-sized rocks out there to test the ice’s strength, and none of them broke through the surface. A flock of about 50 Canada geese were sliding around out in the center of the lake, honking in disapproval at their inability to get their feet wet (I wish I had seen them land there…and try to take off again). As I walked along the dam, I noticed some very cool, but unexplainable ice formations shrouding the winter-dead vegetation: