So what's in that water anyway?

One of the joys of lake living are the constant reminders that we are merely sharing the space we call home. The woods, the water and the air at Lake Anna are constantly filled with all kinds of fish, fowl and other animals which we love watching each and every time we may cross paths. There have been a number of bear sightings at the Lake in recent years and months...but more on that later. First, I wanted to share one of the best descriptions of Lake Anna's creation and the fish which now populate the lake.

C.C. McCotter has been a fishing guide on Lake Anna since 1992. His website details biological surveys done on the local fish populations and lists an impressive array:

"Here are the original 40 species according to family group; American eel,gizzard shad,threadfin shad,blueback herring,eastern mudminnow,mosquitocfish,white sucker,creek chubsucker,shorthead redhorse,northern hog sucker, chain pickerel,Northern pike, common carp, bluehead chub, river chub, goldenshiner, satinfin shiner, swallowtail shiner, spottail shiner, pirate perch,white catfish, brown catfish, yellow bullhead, channel catfish, margined madtom,bluespotted sunfish, redbreast sunfish, pumpkinseed, warmouth, bluegill, redearsunfish, mud sunfish, largemouth bass, black crappie, yellow perch,walleye,tessellated darter, white perch and striped bass. There are rare,unsubstantiated reports of a smallmouth or two but they are not established in the lake."

And the biggest surprise for me (as an acknowledged and admitted fishing neophyte)...eels?!! In lakes? Apparently it's not all that unusual. Even so, I don't think I'll share that one with the kids.

Can you Say Cabin Fever!!!

Enough of the cold...enough of the single digit temps and wind chills! I can't help but dream of warm breezes and sunny spring days on Lake Anna. Unfortunately, regardless of the groundhog's predictions it seems we have nothing but cold temps ahead for the long-term forecast anyway. But I've found something that might help...

The Fredericksburg Outdoor Show is this weekend at the Fredericksburg Expo and Conference Center. I've never been before but it sounds like a great way to plan for another Lake Anna summer. There's also coverage of the event in the Freelance-Star if you're looking for something fun to do this weekend.

Up for a 55 Mile Bike Ride?

OK...in the name of full disclosure I have to admit that running a triathlon would never rank up there on my list of fun things to do; however, I do find it fascinating that so many people out there are not only running marathons successfuly but also expanding into the world of triathlons.

Lake Anna continues to host athletes participating in the Virginia Triathlon. Last Fall one of the competitors from the race pictured here spent the weekend in our Rental Condo and he was one of our best guests ever. Of course, he was probably so beat after the race I bet he just vegged the whole next day! Do triathletes veg?

Already, preparations are underway for Lake Anna's next event in April. Athletes will gather at Lake Anna State Park on Saturday, April 21, 2007 where they'll Swim 1.2 miles, Bike 55 miles, Run 13.1 miles. Really, I'm not kidding.

There's more on the Virginia Triathlon website. It might be fun just to come watch.

Ye Olde England Comes to Lake Anna

The Virginia Renaissance Festival will come to Lake Anna for a couple months beginning in May. If you've never been to one of these kind of events it's definitely worth your time. Afterall, it's not every day that you can imagine being in the English countryside with a collection of characters straight out of Robin Hood. From wenches to royalty, jugglers to artisans Renaissance Festivals can be alot of fun for both young and old.

The Staunton News-Leader has an article detailing the search for actors in this years event, running May 19-June 17 at Lake Anna Winery. These are the kind of events with statewide appeal that I hope Lake Anna continues to draw.

OK...so, it's not the kind of holiday lights I imagined

I've been meaning to write about spending the holidays at Lake Anna for weeks now but time has gotten away from me. So, while I thought I'd give a quick guide on finding the best holiday lights around the lake or Lake Anna holiday events for this weekend here's a strange twist...I found this article in my mailbox this morning instead. Let's just say this isn't the holiday post I envisioned.

Looks like Dominion Power has gotten an early Christmas present from the feds. The Richmond Times Dispatch reports:

The U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission has issued a final environmental-impact statement on Dominion Virginia Power's request for a site permit for one or two new reactors at its North Anna Power Station. Regulators concluded that no environmental impacts would prevent the permit from being issued and no superior sites were available. Any adverse environmental impacts from preparing the site and preliminary construction could be dealt with, they said.

Of course, there are always many steps in these approval processes. No one expects the permitting to be completed until late next year at the earliest.

Ho-Ho-Ho. Not quite the traditional Holiday post but I'm off to wrap some more presents and bake some more goodies.

One of the "Joys" of Lake Living...Not!

As urbanites, the transition to lake living was a true learning experience for us. Septic systems, wells, wild critters eating everything we plant and winterizing boats are just a few of the topics that presented a real challenge at first!

Thankfully, this year the cold winter weather has really been delayed so all of our procrastinating wasn't quite as painful as it could have been...although my husband would disagree (since he had to get into the water one last time in November)...b-r-r-r. I was thinking about how daunting all of this was to us in those first winters. So, I thought I'd share the best winterizing information and resources I have found over the years.

Boat Safe's Nautical Know-How is a great website for a variety of water- related topics. They have a basic take on winterizing your boat that is helpful for novices. Boat USA also is a good resource and even has a winterizing check-list.

OK, now it's confession time. After doing all this research...we decided to leave it to the professionals. Many local marinas and/or boat dealers will come to you and winterize your boat or jet-ski right in your boat house. Can't beat that.

photo © Michael Jastremski for openphoto.net CC:Attribution-ShareAlike

The Wild Women of Lake Anna

Isn't it great when you get a "two-fer"?

For me, that's chocolate chip pancakes (two guilty pleasures rolled into one) and for my daughter it was finding a wonderful book called The Wild Women of Lake Anna. As a book lover (coming from a family of book lovers) finding an enjoyable story set in our favorite place was just too good to pass up.

Author, Linda Salisbury, is a Lake Anna local and has peppered this first in the Baily Fish Adventure series with lots of references that any Lake Anna resident or visitor will recognize. My daughter loved looking up places on the maps and tracking Baily's narrative with her own personal memories of favorite lake locales, like Contrary Creek.

Mrs. Salisbury has been signing copies of the latest in the series (already up to Book 4) throughout the Lake Anna area. Her next signing is Saturday, December 16th at Marshall's Corner in Unionville from 10a-2p.

Now if only I can cram one more thing onto my already ridiculous holiday "to do" list!

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