| April Fool's Day |
The first day of spring is one thing, and the first spring day is another. The difference between them is sometimes as great as a month. -- Henry Van Dyke (circa 1890) | |||
| April 2nd | Yesterday was opening day for the Tiges and the Twins. The Tiges won(!), but the Twins are still my number 1.4 favorite team. This picture is from last October: Click HERE, and Go Tiges! And when they're not playing each other: Go Twins! | |||
| April_3rd | Since the temps have been in the single digits the last few mornings, it's not looking all that positive for the ice to go out in the first half of April. But it's not out of the question yet, so keep the faith all of you optimistic guessers. Well.......maybe Colleen with her guess of April 7th can give up already, but for the rest of you, hang in there. | |||
| April 4th | Unless something better comes along, from now until the ice goes out "Today's Picture" (above) will be an updated picture of the lake. I know that will be pretty boring, but "Today's Picture" usually is anyway. | |||
| First Contact Day |
As per Star Trek chronology, on this day in the year 2063 (50 years from now) Zefram Cochrane makes earth's first Warp speed flight. That night, Vulcan scientists, having discovered the warp signature from Cochrane's ship, make first contact with Earth. Happy pre-50th anniversary of First Contact Day everyone!!!!! Click HERE. (Thanks for the heads-up Jake.)
As per North Carolina Laurie, the female Falcon is back; she arrived yesterday afternoon. | |||
| April 6th | There are always a number of Swans on the river this time of the year, but I've never before noticed as many "on the wing" (so to speak) as I have the last few days. | |||
| April 7th | Today is your day for the ice to be gone Colleen, but do you think you'll make it? Click HERE. It doesn't look too promising, does it? But you won it last year so maybe it's good that you let someone else win this year. | |||
| April 8th |
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| April 9th | As of yesterday the Osprey nest near Peterson Bay Road (PBR) has been re-occupied. (Thanks for the input Sarge.) | |||
| April 10th | From the looks of the landscape it would seem that Persephone will not be leaving the underworld and gracing us with her presence anytime soon. Does this look like Spring is near? Click HERE. | |||
| April 11th | On this day in 1954 almost nothing happened.......in fact, it was supposedly the most boring day in history. To see what CBS News had to say about it in 2010, click HERE. | |||
| April 12th | Click HERE. | |||
| April 13th | Hey Dennis W. Today is the day you predicted for the ice to go out.......better luck next year. | |||
| April 14th |
As a reply to the yesterday's Chronicles entry (see above) I received the following e-mail from Dennis: Not so fast, Jerry — the day’s not over yet! I just heard a news report that there’s a small meteor heading toward the earth and is estimated to hit right in the middle of Little Bass Lake later today. This should cause all of the ice to melt instantly, propelling me to a shocking, come-from-behind victory in the Ice-out contest! But if that doesn’t happen.....you may be able to have a joint Cinco de Mayo/Ice-Out celebration this year :) -- Dennis Note to Dennis: Well, it's now the 14th and the ice is still here, so we better plan for the combination Cinco de Mayo/Ice-out celebration. And by the way, if that happens Cindy H will be the winner. | |||
| April 15th | To Gary in Tennessee and my grandson Jake in Sartell: You're both out. Nice guesses though. | |||
| April_16th |
I never would have thunk it, but a Grandpa can suffer from the "empty nest syndrome" too. All he has to do is visit a daughter who has two kids in college. Sigh....... As per my bird book (admittedly old), Mourning Doves don't winter in this area, but I heard one call this morning. It is certainly unusual to hear that lovely mournful sound coming over a snow covered landscape. | |||
| April 17th | North Carolina Laurie and my old grade school buddy Stover are now out of the ice-out contest. In fact, they weren't even close. Better luck next year you guys. | |||
| April 18th | Last year the first hummingbirds reached Minnesota on March 23rd, but not a single one has breezed into the state so far this year. Apparently they are very intelligent birds who have a distaste for snow and cold. Click HERE to follow their migration. | |||
| April 19th |
We need spring. We need it desperately! And usually we need it before God is willing to give it to us.
-- Peter Gzowski (circa 1980) This year God may not be willing to give it to us at all. More snow last night.......click HERE. | |||
| April 20th |
To Larry, my next door neighbor: You're out!!!!!! Good guess though. The temperature was zero degrees at 7:00 this morning. | |||
| April 21st | Dave in Arkansas and Jim, my neighbor across the lake, are OUT. By the way, the "average" ice-out date was two days ago. | |||
| April 22nd | Wayne (in Arkansas), Kelly (in the Cities), and Bev (in Rochester).......you guys are OUT. They're dropping like flies, aren't they? That's 12 down with 17 still remaining. | |||
| April 23rd |
Here's an update on the unusually late seasonal change in this neck of the woods: On the side of Winter:
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| April 24th | I have nothing to say. | |||
| April 25th | Hey Tam [my Daughter in Sartell], if you look at "Today's Picture" it will be obvious that you are officially.......OUT. | |||
| April 26th | Sarge.......yer OUT. This winter probably wont have the most days of ice cover, but we could end up with around 150. The record is 155 in the winter of 2007/2008. The history is HERE. | |||
| April 27th | Jeff (in Maple Lake), Chris (in Columbia Heights), David K (in Illinois), and Dave L (in Grand Rapids).......you are all OUT. That's 18 down with 11 still remaining. | |||
| April 28th |
Dotz and Twacie (both in Rochester) are OUT. At the moment the lake ice is 24 1/2 inches thick. Deb and I walked across it this afternoon (the width, not the length). | |||
| April 29th | Ann in Cohasset is OUT. There are only 8 people left now. | |||
| April 30th | Welcome to LBLR Tara. I hope your one month stay here works out well.......and I'm sure it will. |
