Harsh cold winds push south across the Superior shore.  The days are getting longer.  The sun is higher in the sky at noon.  With our holiday travels over we slowly drift down into the eased-pace of the northwoods.  We celebrated the New Year with friends on the other side of the wilderness on the North Arm of Burntside Lake.  There our days were occupied with skiing, cards, coffee and sledding.  Our nights were full of music and laughter and spirits.  Now at home our days are spent at work.  Evenings are spent doing wood chores, finish carpentry, the occasional walk, and brewing my first batch of Ale.

Springs seep out ice along the North Shore.  Remember how the entire hill along the Lake is a package of volcanic rocks?  Think of it as a huge stack of pancakes with syrup in between the individual cakes.  The cakes are the individual lava flows.  The each have their own compositions, fracture sets, thickness, and dip towards the lake.  Water, just like the syrup, moves between these units. When the contact of the units is exposed in a road cut or natural break in the slope the water seeps out as a spring and freezes.  I like to think of the large ice springs as "mini-glaciers"!