Every once in a while, there would be a year when the lake was frozen solidly by Christmas, but with no snow. In those years, we could skate anywhere in our little Bear Trap Bay, chasing my grandfather, who was a great skater. I remember in those years watching him disappear into the distance and around the point. A year like that came around when I was an adult, after my grandfather's death. That year, I skated around the entire lake and felt like he was there beside me all the way. Those wintry days, skating on the lake and listening to the ice singing and booming in the evening, are precious memories.