Schrodinger's Weather

Superposition of Reality

Tap-tap...tap-tap...tap-tap...tap-tap...

I cracked an eyelid just enough to peer blurrily at my watch while tapping an orange blob representing the snooze button on its face. It was Friday morning at the end of a long and difficult week.

Technically, it was a vacation day. I reserved it for automotive maintenance that I managed to accomplish earlier than planned. I kept the vacation day scheduled because long range forecasts lead me to believe that I might be in store for a beautiful flying day and the Warrior had just successfully emerged from annual inspection. But I also had work to do and the last forecast I saw before going to bed was not inspiring. My plan: if the weather was as crummy as forecast, I would just go to work. If the weather was somehow better than forecast, I would fly in the morning and attend to my work in the afternoon.

With eyes closed and still on the threshold of sleep, I considered how either good or dismal weather conditions might exist outside. Until I actually checked the weather, those contradictory conditions would coexist as possibilities. It was reminiscent of the quantum mechanical thought experiment known as Schrodinger's Cat in which Erwin Schrodinger devised an absurd hypothetical to critique a quirk of quantum mechanics whereby two opposite states could mathematically coexist until an observer collapsed the probability function to one state or the other. In his hypothetical, a cat is trapped in a box containing a sealed vial of poison that will be broken upon a random atomic decay event. Quantum mechanical probability holds that the cat is simultaneously alive and dead until an observer opens the box and collapses the probability function to a single reality. In this story, the imaginary cat is not a point of view character. At least Pavlov's dog ate better. 

That tapping at my wrist resumed within a few minutes. I reached for an iPad to check weather. Consistent with the quality of light leaking past the blinds, scattered clouds, plenty of sun, and light wind prevailed outside, conditions far superior to the previous night's forecast. Going flying was literally a no-brainer.

Accretion Remnants

Date	Aircraft	Route of Flight	Time (hrs)	Total (hrs)
28 Feb 2025	N21481	SDC (Sodus, NY) - SDC	2.4	2960.3

Within moments of climbing over scattered clouds drifting above the Williamson Sodus Airport, I was gratified by my choice. After a blur of grey days in early 2025, direct sunlight, a crisp blue sky, and a smoothly running airplane engine were powerful antidotes to our first "real" winter in years. Over the clouds at 5,500 feet, I flew eastbound by hand along Lake Ontario through blissfully calm air.

It has been a cold winter. When The Bear and I were aloft nearly a month prior, we noticed that ice coverage on Lake Ontario was significant. After a week of warm temperatures, that was no longer the case. Instead, the remaining ice had accumulated on the downwind end of the great lake. Resembling a French curve template that might be found on a draftsman's table, the ice formed a massive lobe sinuously projecting into Lake Ontario from its eastern shore.

Over North Sandy Pond near Sandy Creek, NY.

A dirty brown accretion of broken ice floes marked the true Lake Ontario shoreline.

Accumulated ice seemed painted on the lake's surface by hand, exhibiting a naturally occurring variance of color and texture atop the frigid water.

The lake's surface resembled the atmospheric formations of an outer solar system gas giant rendered in cold shades of white and blue.

Open water remained at the outflow of North Sandy Pond to Lake Ontario, implying flow.

I continued north toward the frozen opening to Henderson Bay.

Over a frozen Henderson Bay.

The distinctive, bifurcated Stony Island near the mouth of Henderson Bay.

This is one of the reasons that I love where I live. While winter comes with inconveniences, I am not especially bothered by the cold and I get to see the landscape thoroughly transformed from its warmer season state. Each winter's formations are unique and I love surveying them from the air.

Complex ice formations in Henderson Bay.

Seaway Impasse

Reaching the Saint Lawrence Seaway, I found that it too was choked with ice. I followed the frozen river northeast to explore the Thousand Islands.

Clayton, NY.

Washington Island, part of Clayton, NY.

Watch Island.

Rock Island and the Rock Island Lighthouse.

The Thousand Islands Bridge carries I-81 to Canada.

Nearing Alexandria Bay, I reached a pair of famous islands. The first was Hub Island (lower left corner of frame). Also known as Just Enough Room Island, it is the smallest inhabited island in the Thousand Islands with "just enough" land to support the footprint of a small house. The other was Heart Island (upper right of frame), home to the magnificent Boldt Castle that we have visited previously.

Even lacking the deciduous foliage that softens the island's features in summer, the main house is nonetheless fanciful and spectacular.

Boldt Castle's powerhouse on the eastern tip of Heart Island.

Boldt Castle on Heart Island, Alexandria Bay, NY.

Wider angle shot of Heart Island looking west-southwest along the St Lawrence.

Against the Wind

On the Lake Ontario shoreline north of North Sandy Pond.

After circling Boldt Castle, I turned back toward home, swapping a reasonable tailwind for a headwind. I was in no hurry.

North Sandy Pond.

Lake Ontario shoreline under the ice.

North Sandy Pond outlet into Lake Ontario.

Little Sodus Bay near Fair Haven, NY.

Broken ice near Fair Haven, NY.

East Bay on the south shore of Lake Ontario.

Coda

Sunshine, blue sky, and a well-running airplane made for a wonderful day to go aloft and take pictures.  I rewarded myself by managing the type of landing at the Williamson Sodus Airport that I always strive to achieve. In a word, it was all just perfect. And simple. Experiences do not need to be big adventures to serve as balm for the soul. I ended the flight grateful that I made the time to fly.