The week between Christmas and New Year's Day is easily the quietest time in Madison. State employees are gone using one of their four or five weeks of vacation and students are out of town for winter break. But, what this week lacks in traffic and protestors, it more than makes up for it with beautiful days like today.

I went ice skating on Lake Monona this afternoon and came back with some perfect Madison scenes (I figure that I complain about all the liberals so much that I need to balance that out with something).

I love this shot of the late afternoon sky and all the tracks in the ice.

Nevermind the construction and hordes of non-migratory geese, here's a lakeside view of Madison's Monona Terrace.

This is the state Capitol building as seen from the lake. At the top sits Miss Forward, looking out to Washington, DC.

Even though it was a wonderful day for skating, this ice sailor was the only other person I saw out on the lake.

But that doesn't mean I was alone, this charming cat, Obert, followed me home. No, I didn't keep him, but he is awfully cute.

So, I hope you welcome this break from bashing Madison liberals. I'm sure we'll return to our normally scheduled programming soon.