Miss Chicky is aging fast, about half the lake is gray wet slush a few inches deep with intervening drifts. This started a few days ago. The weight of snow is sinking the ice and water is coming up through small reverse drain holes. The snow has melted over the last warm days also, about half is gone on land,from two feet down to one foot deep. A good deal of this “melting may be settling and compaction.
How smooth will it get? A spell of seasonal sub freezing temps Sunday and Monday will delay the process. The optimists (two) who left their boats on the ice may be rewarded before March.