Today dawned bright and clear. The temperature was at –18°, but with no wind, it felt quite comfortable on my morning walk.

Jim Russell’s dog was off his tether, and when I said hello he came charging out towards me, barking and snarling, but his tail was going like crazy. He stopped about half-way, didn’t seem to know what to do next. Then I heard a whistle, and Fido was gone. I quite often stop and talk to him on my walks, but he’s not much of a conversationalist.

When we got home last Wednesday evening the lake appeared to be frozen over, with just a few lines across it. I quizzed the people at coffee, and as near as I can make out it froze over on Sunday, November 2nd, likely sometime in the evening or night. Lionel says I shouldn’t call it frozen over until it is safe to walk on, but that would depend entirely on who is doing the walking. Merv said he saw a few geese out in the middle, but couldn’t see any open water. Jim Bell said there were about fifty geese in a small open spot last Sunday morning. We heard geese on Thursday; maybe they are waiting for a good wind, hoping the ice will break up again. I think it’s too late for that, after the cold weather we had all week.

I just checked last fall, and see I hadn’t put a date on freeze-up. It must have been just about November 3rd, though - two early freeze-ups in a row! By this time last year, George Renneberg had already been out with his ice auger. I phoned him, and he said he was out today. There was six inches of good, hard ice - just like glass, he said, and the whole lake is like that. With just a skiff of snow on it, one could skate all over it.

Fishing wasn’t too bad - he got three jacks, and lost a few. He came home to watch the football games, so didn’t get any walleye. He says they bite later on, when the light isn’t as bright.

That election is over with, and while I was hoping for a change I can’t complain too much about the outcome. The NDP only has a two-seat advantage, and they will likely lose one of those to the Speaker. That means they will have to be very, very careful, for their opposition is united and will overthrow the government with great glee if they get the chance. Will that make for better government? Stay tuned.

In Saskatoon on Sunday, there were “Time for a Change” posters every hundred feet or so along Wanuskewin Drive, on both sides, right down to 51st Street. On Monday, they were all down. There was a severe wind during the night, and that stretch is unsheltered, so we will give the competition the benefit of the doubt and say they were blown down.