Created by local writers and photographers, Compass American Guides are the ultimate insider's guides, providing in-depth coverage of the history, culture and character of America's most spectacular destinations. Covering everything there is to see and do as well as choice lodging and dining, these gorgeous full-color guides are perfect for new and longtime residents as well as vacationers who want a deep understanding of the region they're visiting. Outstanding color photography, plus a wealth of archival imagesTopical essays and literary extractsDetailed color mapsGreat ideas for things to see and doCapsule reviews of hotels and restaurants Created by local writers and photographers, Compass American Guides are the ultimate insider's guides, providing in-depth coverage of the history, culture and character of America's most spectacular destinations. Covering everything there is to see and do as well as choice lodging and dining, these gorgeous full-color guides are perfect for new and longtime residents as well as vacationers who want a deep understanding of the region they're visiting. Outstanding color photography, plus a wealth of archival imagesTopical essays and literary extractsDetailed color mapsGreat ideas for things to see and doCapsule reviews of hotels and restaurants SEASONS OF THE STATE Winter It may snow in October. November can be cold, snow-blown, and windy. But winter never really arrives until the end of the first full week of December. After that, bone-numbing wind chills begin their dive to well below zero. Foreheads ache with cold, ears tingle, eyes tear -- as much because of the wind as for the realization that no relief is in sight for four months. The night sky is India-ink blue, and ice forms clear and thick on the lakes, an inch a night. The lake waters flip over, a natural form of circulation in which the chilled top layer of water sinks to the depths. Water vapor pours off the surface like fog as heat is driven from the water. At the end of that first week of winter, loud groans and grinding squeals rise from the lakes as the great tectonic ice plates expand, popping and booming as their faces meet and cannot mesh. The cold breath of winter remains until March, bringing a variety of winter weather that ranges from Arctic wind chills of 50 and 60 degrees below zero, to warm, springlike days in the January thaw. Winter brings ice fishing to Wisconsin's 15,000 lakes, as it has since Native Americans first started spearing fish that they attracted with wooden lures. Modern ice anglers now use a tip-up, which sends up a flag to signal when an unwary perch, muskie, walleye, crappie, or pan fish has gobbled up the cutworm or minnow. Spearing for sturgeon, ancient denizens of the glacial lake, is permitted on Lake Winnebago. Famed for their size and roe (yes, caviar), sturgeon grow old, long, and heavy. They are difficult to spear, and though hundreds of anglers set up shanties to harvest the sturgeon, few come home with more than hopes for better luck next season. Spring March may enter mildly, but the series of state high school basketball and wrestling tournaments that follow seem to have the uncanny ability to attract snow-bearing storm systems. It can snow as late as April, and frost may sting until mid-May. Certain forces cannot be restrained: about six weeks after the Sun Prairie groundhog sees its shadow, St. Patrick's Day is celebrated in the hopes of seeing more green and less white. Spring is not always born full-grown. The best springs take time to build. The most unsatisfactory springs arrive in a hot southern wind around mid-March, leaping into sultry summer weather that lingers until September. The best come with snow-filled clouds, cold fogs, and stiff northeast winds whose rain lashes the trees. The cool spring lets the floral bounty of the woodlands and prairies arrive at a leisurely pace. Spring also heralds tornado season, March to September. Summer Summer is, of course, vacation time, and the baseball diamonds and volleyball courts at taverns and school yards get their well-deserved workouts. The fishing season brings out a flotilla of craft on every reputed fishing hole. Outdoor music festivals fill the bandshells, gazebos, and greens of small villages and cities to entertain the locals in the early evening air. Wisconsin's parks, bike trails, and forests get a workout every summer, mostly by state residents who have been cooped up for six months. Prairie flowers put on a summer-long display to highlight the million shades of green along highways and back roads with subtle touches of white, yellow, blue, pink, and orange. The high days of summer pass all too quickly, and before long it seems that the sun has set before the ball game is over, or the day's fish limit reached. The muggy days of July and August may seem to linger like time suspended, but heavy dews fall on the cooler nights. The Perseid met