Crusty crunchy ice-covered snow under the low midday winter sun.

The cross-country ski race known as a “Loppet” is coming to Uptown on Feb 6&7. That Saturday night they light up ice sculptures with candles all around the lake. This is the beginnings of the sculpture at the Northwest corner of Isles. It’s quite the sight to behold and to take photos of. If you are interested in coming down to take photos, leave a comment and let me know, there’s a group of us locals planning the best locations and techniques.

Figlio is gone, Il Gatto is now open. I haven’t tried it yet, but it’s a Parasol restaurant, so it should be safely interesting. I keep meaning to try it for lunch but I keep walking one more block to Cowboy Slim’s for the Tatertot Hotdish: I need to stop bringing Dan with me.

One of my favorite things about living on Lake of the Isles in the winter is the ability to visit the islands (they are bird sanctuaries the rest of the year). his tree fell over years ago, but still hangs on.

I’ve seen this view dozens of times and never could get it right — until now. I’ve even tried to shoot it with a bigger lens from across the lake. Hennepin is on a ridge and the neighborhood banks away from it. The curve is nicely obvious from Lake Calhoun.

I had to walk around it to figure it out, but I’m pretty sure it’s a Manitee sculpture. Good subject choice, they’re pretty much a blob with a nose. The sculptures for the Loppet are in the background. Come see them lit up the night of Feb 6th.

I love little footprints in the snow, they tell a fun tail of some critter running around eking out a life on the frozen tundra. Probably squirrels.