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This picture of the sun rising over Merrymeeting Lake last week was taken at about 7:30 AM.  My camera does not do justice to how gorgeous the lake was that day with the fresh snow, shining sun, and crisp morning air.

The view from Merrymeeting Lake Road on 1/21/10.

I am fortunate enough to get to see this sunrise in so many variations each morning on my “commute” to work.  Seeing the thick ice, though, reminds me just how long it will be until we can get our boat back in the lake to cruise the glassy water and pull all you campers on skis, wakeboards, and tubes.

What we got last night can only be called a dumping of snow.  At 11PM there was a dusting; less than one inch.  This morning I awoke at 7:30AM to texts and missed calls from friends who were out hitting the slopes reporting over one foot of fresh pow (powder).  I opened my curtains and, lo and behold, nearly one foot of fluffy, white, gorgeous snow.  Not wanting to brave the holiday crowds at the mountains, I decided to head over to camp to survey the scene.  Below is what I found:

Is this really camp?

Camp is literally buried in snow.  With my 4WD on I struggled up the driveway with snow drifts up to the hood of my car in some places.  While we had much more last winter while I was living in the Lodge, this is a great mid-season storm and the deep snow is a welcome sight.

Tomorrow will be a long day of shoveling decks, roofs, and driveways, but today, at least for a few hours this afternoon, I will be out shredding the pow pow (snowboarding) at nearby Gunstock.

Today was an epic day at camp.  The sun was shining, the lake was frozen solid, and we had some guests; counselors from last summer (and next summer) Jenn and Lauren.

From left to right: Jenn, Evan, and Lauren on the ice!

We traversed slick, cold ice until we made it over to flag rock.

It definitely looks a bit different up close but it is still the island we all know and love at camp.  I cannot wait for the camp to flag rock to loon rock to camp swim once the ice is gone!  For now, though, all we can do is imagine the clean, crisp water and make the most of the snow.

Evan in mid-air, launching off of flag rock.

Today, while exploring the great expanse which is Birch Hill, I encountered a pretty cool snow drift which had formed around cabin 7.

The drift curved its way from the steps of cabin 8, around our new outdoor shower, up in front of 7 as pictured above, and continued to wind its way along the boy’s side of camp.  Unfortunately most of our campers and staff never get to experience Birch Hill in the winter but it is stuff like this that is really interesting and cool to find!

Today, January 5th, 2010, marks my first post of the new decade.  This will be the 18th season of Camp Birch Hill as we all know and love it and we could not be more pumped!

Zeus (my 11 year old Yellow Labrador Retriever sidekick) and I trudged around in the snow today clearing some roofs and decks from their winter loads.  I snapped some pictures as the snow began to fall again and cancel out my shoveling.  The theme today is our peaceful pond and swinging chair.

The pond and swinging chair with the BBall court and La Casa in the background.

The chair was so serene today buried in snow so Zeus felt the need to disrupt the scene.

FYI, he managed to locate and uncover a tennis ball which was frozen under two feet of snow; that is what he has between his paws in the above picture.  I hope that everyone is enjoying the winter as much as we are up here at camp!  Keep checking back for more pictures.