January 10

1/10/08: Thursday, 8:00 AM. 25 degrees, barometer down, wind calm, shies overcast with high clouds, no fog. There is a very long, at least a mile, dark line in the channel, paralleling the shore; the only thing it can be is a ridge of ice, although there appears to be water on both sides of it., Probably ice which broke loose from the shoreline and has been pushed away by the wind into the channel waters.
The squirrels are continually at the feeders, and the birds won't come when they are there. The dog is getting tired of chasing the, although it gives him an objective in life besides eating. The squirrels are brazen, come right back when chased. I suppose I could put a couple in the stew pot, but I don't want to follow in my departed father-in-law' footsteps, who in the later years of life carried on a war of attrition with the squirrels, to no avail. He trapped them, took them out into the country but somehow there were always more squirrels, either intrepid travelers making their way back from the boonies, or others immediately moving into vacated territory. It gave both him and the squirrels something to do, but I'm hopefully not at that stage just yet.
The ice is now forming on both sides of that ridge. I have never watched this happen before.