Bright But Cold
No sense of Spring just yet.
Here’s the Rock River making itself to home in a cornfield. And there’s more moisture to come.
Faux crab cakes for dinner. Report to follow.
Almost as good as what you might find on the Chesapeake.
No Buds Breaking
Snow showers and a cold north wind.
Apple tree and pear tree pruned (for looks and productivity), but otherwise mostly indoors.
Programming practice with Sphero Bolt does take time.
In other news, we have our March Madness brackets filled out, and I’m feeling pretty sure mine could be the first perfect bracket in the history of the tournament.
More Light…
…though still chilly.
R&R and basketball, after a morning of Legos, waffles, ping pong, sopping fun at the snowy park, The Story About Ping, and The Little Rabbit Who Wanted Red Wings.
Very Busy
Legos, baking, ping pong, stories, office, dinner, etc.
Ducks In The Cornfields
More snow last night than I anticipated. Heavy and wet. Adding to the considerable moisture already on the land. Creeks and rivers out of their banks.
But not as bad as California.
A Little Setback…
…for our local robins.
But not really enough to bother anyone.
When Snowdrops Show…
…it’s time to begin watching basketball tournaments.
And speaking of snow, winter storm warning for tomorrow.
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Remember, don’t keep a dog and then bark yourself.
Up and Coming
Resurrection lilies, daffodils, hellebores—all taking advantage of early spring weather.
Lots of Robins..
…and quite a few redwing blackbirds too. Spring must be here.
Lots of Cranes…
…over Whitewater. Maybe 75 observed in the course of a half hour walk.
Cranes can’t be going much farther north than Stevens Point, however, because not far beyond, the snow gets deep.
Loopy Loppet
New term to me, a big thing in the Nordic world.
Katy got second in her age group.
Where Winter Reigns
Up North.
What Are The Cranes Thinking?
And the robins, too.
Chilly, gray day, with snow in the forecast.
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Can’t remember if I’ve posted this previously, but on a slow news day you sometimes have to look to the archives.
Paraprosdokians
Where there's a will, I want to be in it.
The last thing I want to do is hurt you, but it's still on my list.
Since light travels faster than sound, some people appear bright until you hear them speak.
If I agreed with you, we'd both be wrong.
War does not determine who is right, only who is left.
A clear conscience is the sign of a fuzzy memory.
Robins...and Cranes
Admittedly, it was a beautiful, warm day, but robins and sandhills are not supposed to be here on the first of March. I’m jotting these observations down here in my phenology calendar.
But, it’s not too soon to be thinking about planting trees.
Here’s the selection of native trees and shrubs coming up for sale this April. Arb Tree Sale
Warmish
Ice finally melting. Probably a fine day for things other than grocery shopping, reading, and working on a model boat.
awakened
as ice bursts
the water jar
— Basho
Floods
Thunder storms much of last night. Heavy rain at times. Light rain continuing all day. Creek overflowing the sidewalk. Pond in the backyard.
old pear tree
now laden
only with raindrops
Here Come(s) The Sun…
…flowers. Thanks to a mouse in the garage.
This industrious mouse moved a lot of birdseed from the birdseed bags into the potting soil bag. When potting up the new rosemary I found handfuls of sunflower seeds in the soil, and I industriously cleared them all out. But obviously, not sufficiently. So many sprouted around and below the rosemary that the entire top end of the pot was lifted a good two inches.
In other news, we went for a coffee at the unusual shop in the old Carnegie library on the campus of the long defunct Milton College.
Above Freezing…
…and nice enough for a walk (on shoveled surfaces). Custom, hand-crafted pizza for dinner, from our little, odd, local pieman.
~~~~~~~~~~
a crust of bread
jumps with the sparrows
round the courtyard
Dina Franin
Phenology In Action
Goose hole, and then sandhill cranes!
The goose hole is fine, but sandhills should not be here in February.
New occasional feature—amateur philosophy:
Item: “Power is the ability to inflict pain.”
Crust Over Slush…
…but once the crust broken, blower capable of the heavy lifting. Took half an hour to help the truck free itself from its crusty coat.
In other news, the Norwegian sailing pram has finally slid down the ways.
This model was a buggar. Although the model is based on an actual boat, the kind of construction seemed slightly un-seaworthy. Then the engineering of the model was annoying—overly convoluted for something that is really nothing more than a visual representation. And, the scale was so tiny that older eyesight and coordination were not up to the task. Thanks to Mimi for help rigging the darn thing.
Further, on looking at the photo, I realize that the dagger board head should not have been painted white.