NO BRAINER

More brutal cold this week but the team is out there, sign and all. I don't know if the lion is laying down with the lamb, but this swan sure wants to lay down with the warm-up gang.

Many berg-brains out there on thin ice, in singles or groups. But is that a pair of kayakers doing hard paddling?

Hmmmm. It must be would-be Instagram celebrities OR a rescue-training video. Polar dippers? They made it out safely, whatever.

In the quay below, ice makes wild scrawls every day. Perfect weather to work on your boat??

We dashed out in -31C windchill to see "Nordic Lights", an artistic installation sponsored by the 3 nordic countries ---- N____, S_____, and F______ --- right? Six pieces arranged in Harbourfront. 300 metres of tubing in one, touch-sensitive lights in another, abstract projection on a wall in a third. But the final mind-puzzler was this double brain, talking to each other in light spasms. That was the night's no-brainer ----- we rushed our numb fingers and noses back indoors!!

THICK SNOW, THIN ICE?

Toronto got hit with 18 to 25 inches of snow in one day, in the top 5 dumps since records began. A complete winter wonderland all at once. Bicycles and scooters had a tough time but the clearing got underway and is still going on today...

Snow angels appeared in the drifts. A snow devil near an igloo? Definitely not a snow mouse so we helped it back to a hidey-hole. Looking forward to our next Mexican treat, but when??

Record cold had also hit the area, with -25C wind chill. So, how's the ice cover? Swans and ducks are light enough, and they can paddle. But hockey guys (Canadian, eh?) skated out on thin ice a half-mile from shore. Other skaters glided by ominous pack ice. A family with kids and their dog strolled along, a long way from rescue. Wanna try it?

Despite the weather, couldn't resist a visit to our real home. Follow that snowplow --- that's the house's snow roof, top of the hill. Crisp fresh air makes the hill climb easier. Everything's OK up there but when the feeder's empty the birds have gone.

Back at the quay, the ice breaker weaves random channels. Police ice boats can skim ice and water, hoping not to have to rescue those skaters. Hang in there, we're only 2 months til spring!

ARE YOU A GOOSE OR A DUCK?

 It's mid-January so --- duh --- it's also brutally cold. The quay's free shuttle bus takes us inland and we walk back before extremities freeze up. Mixed signals this week, though. One block away there's the first robin! But on the ice it looks like a swan has died, trapped in an ice floe.

Not to worry, a water taxi plows through and the dormant swan goes neck-up, disturbed from its warm position. The outboard does an ice-breaking 360 and plows to the dock, like the Little Boat That Could. And out again --- self-serve Ice Breaker!

Other craft are out there. A police airboat, like those in the Everglades, powers over ice or water. The fireboat came by (before ice) to practice tight manoevers. Another day, a larger island commuter taxi chugs in. 

Did you know that a boat's life preservers and rafts have to be serviced every couple of years? Me neither. A lift-crane comes onside, the container is removed and taken away to be renewed. 

The surface below us can be dramatic. One day it shimmers like gold or silver UFO's. Another day it's like looking at millions of stars in a dark sky. 

Dawn is earlier these days but clear and cold. The ice forms and sparkles like chunky diamonds. Geese romp on the ice surface, making the best of it. Ducks on the other hand look for open water and avoid the worst. Are you a goose or a duck??