| The Calends of_March | To see what can happen in a mere month, click HERE. As you noticed, that was last year. The change this year probably wont be quite so striking. To see this year's "starting" picture, click HERE. |
| March 2nd | Wow! It's a little chilly again.......nearly 20 below zero this morning. |
| March 3rd | Here's another sign that Spring is near: For you down-staters, as of today fish houses must be off the ice between midnight and sunrise. But that wont apply to us guys up in this neck of the woods for two more weeks.......so fish on!!!!! |
| March 4th |
If you look at the link for the ski trail conditions, don't believe a lot of what it says. It hasn't been updated recently and some of the trails are still listed as being in "good" condition, but if it doesn't say that they've been groomed within the last few days then it's not true!!! Due to the warm weather early last week the trails are icy and in poor condition. I'll let you know when (or if) they improve. This just in: It appears that there may be some significant snow on the way. My snowblower is getting so excited that it keeps starting up all by itself. Maybe the ski trails will improve sooner than later. |
| March 5th | Snowed in; a fire in the fireplace; drinking coffee for a bit before cooking up some breakfast; listening to Vivaldi; doing a CWP. I love it! Heck, I might even make a Bloody Mary. This is great!!!!! How are you down-staters doing? |
| March 6th | Any thoughts on when the Male Falcon will return to the MP&L plant this Spring? Obviously he hasn't arrived yet, but at times he has been this early. Click HERE. Ours is the "Boswell Cam". |
| The Nones of March |
Language has created the word "loneliness" to express the pain of being alone, and it has also created the word "solitude" to express the joy of being alone. Paul Johannes Tillich, from "The Eternal Now" (1963) The latter is great.......but too much of the latter can become the former, don't you think? |
| March 8th | I went skiing on the Blackwater Conservation Area Ski Trail yesterday. The goomer/tracker was still on the trail when I got there and the woods was full of fresh snow that fell two days before, so I'd describe the area and the trail as "pristine". It was great.......you should have been here!!!!! |
| March 9th |
Listen to this. My fairly new refurbished IBM laptop wouldn't boot up on Monday evening. Here's what happened: Tuesday morning: Called the IBM Support Center in Atlanta. Wednesday morning: Received shipping container, shipping instructions, and shipping label from IBM. Wednesday afternoon: Dropped off the laptop at UPS office. Thursday morning: IBM received the loptop, repaired it, and shipped it back. Friday morning: Received repaired laptop. Three days from "service call" to "computer fixed". Is that service or what??? The local computer store couldn't have done it that quickly. Amazing! |
| Laetare Sunday |
And he commanded the multitude to sit down on the grass, and took the five loaves, and the two fishes, and looking up to heaven, he blessed, and brake, and gave the loaves to his disciples, and the disciples to the multitude. And they did all eat, and were filled: and they took up of the fragments that remained twelve baskets full.
-- Matthew 14:19-20 |
| March 11th | The Yankees in the play-offs again this year??? Last year on April 26th, these Chronicles documented Sarge's prediction that "his" Yankees would not make it to the play-offs. Of course he was in error and the Yankees were in the play-offs. Obviously he has not learned his lesson because he is saying it again this year.......even more strongly than last season. We'll see what October brings, and remember, you read it here. |
| March 12th | I was mistaken! The last line of the March 7th entry (above) is not true. After giving it some thought, I am now of the opinion that "lonliness" and "solitude" are two entirely different things that are not even related. A person can have one or the other, or both, or neither. They are independent of each other. A person who is not lonely can have tons and tons of solitude and that wont make him lonely. It might drive him up a wall and it might make him feel the need for social contact, but if he's not a lonely person, that alone will not cause loneliness. Likewise, a lonely person can feel lonely in a crowd of people. No doubt that is obvious to the casual observer, so I don't really know what I was thinking when I wrote that line 5 days ago. |
| March_13th | 6 below zero at 8:00 this morning. We had 19 below zero in 2009. |
| March 14th | I just found this. It's a list of verb tenses that I put it together for some reason back in the mid 1980s. The reason escapes me but I think I was studying Spanish at the time and that may have had something to do with it. (Yeah, yeah, I know, I know. It's been a long winter.) Click HERE. |
| The Ides of March |
Soothsayer: Beware the ides of March! Caesar: What man is that? Brutus: A soothsayer bids you beware the ides of March. Cassius: Fellow, come from the throng; look upon Caesar. Caesar: What say'st thou to me now. Speak once again. Soothsayer: Beware the ides of March! Caesar: He is a dreamer. Let us leave him. -- William Shakespeare, from Julius Caesar (1599) Beware the Ides of March! Those prophetic words were spoken in Act I, Scene II and by the end of Act III Caesar was dead. For the past 44 years there has been a tradition among our Canadian friends to commemorate this day by drinking a Bloody Caesar. It is my intent to follow their tradition, and it is my proposal that you do likewise. |
| St. Urho's Day | To all you fisherpersons: As the fishing season nears (and it's only eight weeks away).......remember, to catch fish, you have be smarter than the fish. Did you get that Dotz? |
| March 17th |
It's a chilly St. Patty's Day morning.......20 below zero. As always on this day: Happy Birthday Ter.......and Éire go Brách!!!!! |
| March 18th | Four or five more inches of snow fell last night. The snow blower broke down twice this morning (two different problems). Between repairing the blower and moving snow, I spent nearly five hours outside and only got the north end opened up. Oh well, the south end and the dumpster area will wait until tomorrow.......no problem. |
| March 19th | Does anyone want to take a stab at when the ice will go out this year? Last year Colleen from Apple Valley and Gary from Tennessee both said March 27th and they hit it right on. The last measurement (early this month) was about 24 inches. Also, this year the snow cover is a lot thicker and the March temperatures have been a lot colder than last year. Send me your guess if you'd like; I'll buy the winner (or winners) lunch at Florio's. If you want to see the history, click HERE. |
| Spring Equinox |
A little madness in the Spring Is wholesome even for the King. -- Sweet Emily (circa 1875) Spring began at 6:02 AM (CDT) with 2 feet of snow on the ground, 2 feet of ice on the lake, and a predicted low temperature tonight of 6 below zero. This is nothing like last year when the temps were warm, the snow was gone, and the lake was a mere 7 days from being ice free. Amazing!!!!!! |
| March 21st | 15 below zero this morning; the ice might never melt. [Aside -- The Farmer's Almanac predicted this week to be warm with lots of rain showers in our neck of the woods. -- End of Aside] |
| March 22nd | Sarge and Ann's mailbox: Click HERE. |
| March 23rd | The ice is a tad over 24 inches thick at the moment. On our little lake that amounts to about 14 million cubic feet of ice. Does that make anyone want to change their ice-out guess? The calculations are HERE. |
| Palm Sunday |
If you must do foolish things, do them with enthusiasm. -- Sidonie Gabrielle Colette (circa 1930) |
| March 25th | Last year the ice on LBL went out on March 27th (two days hence) so if anyone still wants to get in on a chance to win a free lunch at Florio's (see the March 19th entry above) they have to submit their guess by then. So far 24 people have taken a stab at it, which is way more than in past years. It's amazing how many people were enticed by the addition of a free lunch this year. |
| March 26th | A measurement yesterday showed that the ice on Little Bass is 27 inches thick. That's just about as thick as it gets. |
| March 27th | A year ago today the ice went out, the earliest ever in the Modern Era. (Note: The Modern Era began in the Spring of 1992.) |
| March 28th | The deadline for ice-out guessing has passed. There are 27 entries and there could be as many as four winners (which would mean four lunches at Florio's). The date range is from April 7th to May 9th. Good luck to all of you! |
| March 29th | This is the driveway to the north end. In some years the snow has been gone and those cabins have been up and running by now. In fact, last year the Spring raking was done a week before this. Hmmmmm.......I wonder what the cleaning girls would say if they had to walk back there to clean cabins today. Click HERE. |
| March 30th | The Falcon is back!!! And by the way, today is the latest that I've noted his return; the previous latest date was March 19th in 2008 (but my records are sparse). Click HERE. Ours is the "Boswell Cam". Thanks for pointing that out Laurie. Now we just have to wait for his wife to arrive. |
| March 31st | This seems to indicate that the winter and/or the month of March was a bit different last year than it was this year, wouldn't you agree? Click HERE. |
