I finally braved the ice on lake placid today. Everyone around here seems to think that hanging out on frozen lakes is completely normal. People ice fish, walk, skate, ski all over frozen lakes. I, on the other hand, think that frozen bodies of water should be approached with extreme caution. This, maybe more than anything else I've noticed so far, declares in flashing neon letters: "NOT A MIDWESTERNER!" Unlike everyone from here, I have no ice-sense, no clue how to tell when ice is safe or not-safe. It was almost always a bad idea to walk on frozen bodies of water in Washington where I lived. For one, the water actually flowed so you had currents to watch out for and, for another, the ice rarely lasted long enough to thicken. I'll have to get over my ice qualms if I'm ever going to acclimate to the Midwest, but there's a huge cold lake underneath the ice... with fish! scary fish! and seaweed, creepy seaweed! My instincts tell me to stay away but maybe I've just read too many Jack London stories.