Down the road, the Lake O'Dowd ice-fishing brotherhood stands undeterred by the melt, industriously revving power augers to drill a new scattering of hot spots. Others lounge on lawn chairs and up-turned pickle buckets, monitoring lines and tip-ups. Trikes and four-wheelers splash from site to site on essential errands, some secret, others perhaps in the public interest. A few early adopters have already pulled their bulky houses onto the ice, staking early claims on the future winter village plat. Today's hum of lake activity was reflected in wide pools of standing water and observed by a photographer who remained on solid ground. He made no judgments about the wisdom of playing on melting ice, all human activity has inherent risks, certainly any that are associated with ice and snow. Most winter accidents happen on the way to the mailbox after a sleet storm, he reasoned.
So why do they do it? And, while you're at it, just where does Frosty go?
