Well so much for the scurs’ prediction of a slight chance of snow on Monday. Can you imagine what might’ve happened if it had been a good chance? Starting Wednesday, mostly clear. Highs near 25 and lows around 10. Partly cloudy for Thursday and Friday with highs in the lower 30’s and highs in the mid-20’s. Mostly cloudy for Saturday with highs near 30 and lows in the lower 20’s. Mostly cloudy for Sunday with a modest chance of rain and/or snow in the morning and a modest chance of rain in the afternoon. Highs in the upper 30’s with lows around 30. Mostly cloudy for Monday and Tuesday with a chance of an occasional rain/snow mix both days. Highs of 35 – 40 and lows of 15 – 20. The normal high for March 9th is 36 and the normal low is 20. The scurs will be waiting for the glacier to recede so they can find their step ladder to set their clocks ahead an hour at precisely 2 a.m. on Sunday morning.
Ah yes, it’s time to face the dreaded time change once again. The proponents will trot out Ben Franklin as the Father of Daylight Saving Time and severely chastise anyone who dares call it Daylight Savings Time. I have several other names for it but that’s beside the point. You wouldn’t dare question the authority and brain trust of our almighty federal government in this day and age, now would you? This silly law has been in effect for most of my life, dating back to the days when seeing Studebakers, hearing sonic booms and eating at the Taystee Freeze were common. Somehow I think even Ben Franklin after seeing how much lost work time has resulted, how many accidents have been caused by falls while resetting clocks and how many heart attacks have been linked to this law would have to profoundly say “This is really stupid.” Hard to believe the human race actually survived just fine without it for thousands of years.
Early week snowfall suddenly has increased the amount of water on the landscape. Measuring snowfall is not an exact science especially when it’s driven by the wind and blows much of it off the snow measuring board. Sometimes one has to improvise as was the case Monday morning. Turns out some of the hay bunks and tubs make handy collecting devices and can give one a relative idea of the approximate snowfall measurement. With most of the snow in drifts of varying depths that’s about the best one can do. Tuesday morning was a different story as the snow fell without the wind making it easy to cut a biscuit. We tallied about 3.6” of snow on Monday and 4.5” on Tuesday. Both snowfall events contained a lot of moisture as opposed to the last snow in February. That snow was about .07” of liquid equivalent per inch. The last two snowfalls were more dense, containing closer to .1” per inch on average. Moving it with the tractor was about like moving frozen cottage cheese. Yes, it’s all about food.
I am an extremely privileged man to be considered worthy of a phone call from Edna when the weather becomes potentially inclement. I have her on caller ID on the cell phone so it’s with a smile when I answer those calls concerning what the weather is going to do. After all, any one of us would hate to have her fall on the ice. I hate falling on the ice myself!
Speaking of that, the hockey rink and bobsled run that have comprised our yard much of the winter since January sometime have begun to subside. Oh sure there are still some spots where it’s possible to go down if you’re not careful but at least it’s not as treacherous as it was. Hopefully with the longer days any ice forming as a result of this latest snow will be short lived. It doesn’t look like we’ll be planting garden on St. Patrick’s Day or mowing lawn by the end of the month like last year however. It’s unlikely as well to be harvesting rhubarb on April 7th with the soils still frozen down 25” at the SROC in Waseca.
Lambing season has been on hold as apparently the ewes and rams must’ve been on strike last September. The heat during the first part of that month appears to have been the culprit as warm temperatures can cause rams to lose their virility. Some of the ewes seem to wait until cooler weather to cycle as well. With their cycles occurring on average about every 16 days, it doesn’t take much to throw a monkey wrench into lambing progress down the road about 5 months later. Oh well, they’ll get here when they get here. At least those born almost a month ago are already huge. Someday when the snow leaves, they can go outside to play in the sunshine so the kids on Bus Driver Pam’s bus can see them.
Birds continue to be numerous at the feeders. Cardinals appear as regulars now, something unheard of since we moved in here some 28 years ago. Heard the chickadees doing their spring fee-bee call this past week at the ranch after hearing it the week prior in Bugtussle. Can’t fool a chickadee; they know it’ll be spring someday. The rooster pheasants have been making themselves known nearby with lots of crowing in the morning from various points on the landscape. And to the south about a mile some large black objects were on the move across the fields. Wild turkeys out enjoying a morning stroll in the sun while picking up some of the plentiful corn left behind from last fall. Should be some nice fat toms out there for hunters looking for a nice turkey dinner.
See you next week…real good then.