| The Calends of March |
Oh sure(!) it's March already, but there's still a lot of snow on the ground and a lot of ice on the lake and it's still below zero every night and Spring weather is still a long long long way off. Sigh....... |
| March 2nd |
In a bar on a Friday after work back in my IBM days: Barmaid: What would you like to drink sir? Homer O. Dingus: I'd like a glass of Pepsi please. Barmaid: I'm sorry sir, but we don't have Pepsi. Would a Coke be okay? Homer O. Dingus: In that case, I'll have a double scotch and water. That really happened, by the way, and it wasn't said as a joke. and....... In a restaurant one day at lunchtime back in my IBM days: Waitress: Can I get you something to drink sir? Me: I'd like a glass of coke please. Waitress: We don't have coke. RCBOK? Me: Hahahahahahahahaha. Waitress: Huh???? I had to explain to her why I thought that was humorous.......and she didn't even laugh then. |
| March 3rd | This is from Sarge this morning and maybe it's the end of the cold. Below zero is predicted for the next two nights but only in single digits.......then above zero after that. Can it really be true??? Click HERE. |
| March 4th |
Some chickens enjoy a little wine on occasion. Click HERE. Note added a short time later: Already there have been some non-believers, but YES(!) it definitely IS a chicken and her name is Nathan. To see the best picture of Nathan that I have, click HERE. |
| March 5th |
Two days ago was the last day for all of you down-staters to get your ice fishing houses off of the ice. Us Northerners still have a couple of weeks yet, but all of the fishing houses, except for one, are off of LBL already.
If anyone is interested in trying to win a free lunch at Florio's again this year, send me your prediction for the LBL "ice out" date. Randy won it last year with his "guess" of May 9th which was still 5 days early. |
| March 6th |
Here are a few items to help you (or perhaps confuse you) with your predictions of this year's LBL "ice out" date and your efforts to win a free lunch at Florio's (see yesterday's entry above):
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| The Nones of March | It's the time of the year to start watching for the return of the Cohasset Falcon, although it may be a tad early yet. The middle of March is more typical and last year his arrival was on March 30th, but he has returned as early a March 6th (2007) so one never knows. Four chicks were hatched last year and all of them were banded. Click HERE; ours is the Boswell Cam. |
| March 8th | The Dollar General store in Cohasset is now OPEN. It's pretty small so if you're looking for a source of groceries it's not much, but it's definitely better than the S/A station. During a week-long vacation it just might save you a trip or two into Grand Rapids for any items you may have "forgotten" to pick up. |
| March 9th | This morning I was asked by a Tennessee resident when winter in the Northland will be over. All I could tell her was that "one never knows" and then I sent her an example. You've seen it before, but to see it again click HERE. |
| March 10th | Today in our neck of the woods, the sun rose at 7:35 and the daylight will last for 11 hours and 38 minutes (we're nearly at the halfway point). In rough numbers, on March 17 when the day and night will be equal (or as close as we get to it), the Sun will rise and set at 7:06 AM and PM respectively. Also in rough numbers, on September 23rd when the day and night will again be nearly equal, the Sun will rise and set at 7:22 AM and PM respecively. Why the 16 minute difference between the Spring and Autumn rise/set times at the time of equal day and night? As I keep saying, some of these astronomical tidbits are rather difficult to fathom. |
| March 11th | Beer is made by men; wine by God! That sounds like a reasonable assertion which has often been attributed to Martin Luther, but I really doubt that he's the one who said it. I have been unable to find any indication of the context or the document. |
| March 12th | Beware the Jabberwock! |
| March 13th | There was a Falcon at each of the Hibbard nests in Duluth yesterday but as of yet our Cohasset Falcon has not returned. |
| March 14th | Geez, this snow looks odd. It appears to have been trampled on by a herd of buffalo, doesn't it? Click HERE. |
| The Ides of March |
As mentioned on this day last year (click HERE), for the past 45 years there has been a tradition among our Canadian friends to commemorate the Ides of March by enjoying a Bloody Caesar. It is my intent to follow their tradition again this year, and I urge you to do likewise. Happy St. Urho's Day!!!! |
| March 16th | Six weeks ago Punxsutawney Phil said that winter will end today. |
| March 17th |
There are two reasons why today is green. They are:
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| March 18th | The last ice fishing house came off of Little Bass Lake sometime this past weekend. |
| March 19th | Click HERE. |
| The Vernal Equinox | The new thing, in this global age of ours, is to call today "the Northward Equinox", but I still prefer to call it "the Vernal Equinox" even though that's biased in favor of our hemisphere. It has a nicer ring to it, don't you think? So Happy Vernal Equinox everyone; winter is over! (PS: 12 hours and 12 minutes of daylight in our neck of the woods today! We went over the 12 hour mark on St. Patty's Day.) |
| March 21st |
As the saying goes, you should never look a free lunch in the mouth. No! Wait! It's a gift horse that you should never look in the mouth; a free lunch is what there is no such thing as. But in this case there really IS a free lunch and all you have to do to get it is make the best guess about the LBL "ice out" date. (See the Chronicles entries for March 5th and 6th, above.) Okay Dotz, here are the rules. As it was last year, any guesses for the LBL "ice-out" date have to be in by March 27th, which is the earliest that the lake has ever been ice free. The lunch goes to the person who is closest to it and it can be before, on, or after the actual date. If there is a tie for the closest to it, all of the tied persons will get a free lunch. Good luck! |
| March 22nd | Darned snow. Five more inches. Sigh....... |
| March 23rd | As per North Carolina Laurie, the Cohasset Falcon arrived early yesterday morning. Thanks for the info Laurie. By the way, it snowed the night before his arrival so when he got here he found that his living room was filled with snow. He better get it cleaned up before his wife arrives or she's gonna be maa-aad. |
| March 24th and 25th | Click HERE. |
| March 26th | We're still having a lot of below zero nights in this neck of the woods so maybe one of you guys who guessed sometime in May for the "ice-out" date will get it. I think you're going to have a problem with your guess Gary. Tomorrow is the last day to turn in a date, by the way. |
| March 27th | Okay daughters, because you requested it here are a few New Orleans pictures. But only a few. Click HERE. |
| March 28th | There are fish out there that need be caught.......and the opener is only six weeks from tomorrow. |
| March 29th |
March borrowit from April Three days, and they were ill: The first was frost, the second was snaw, The third was cauld as ever't could blaw. That's an old Scottish Proverb which predicts the weather for the last three days of March: first frost, then snow, then very cold. If the upcoming storm hits as predicted, it'll be pretty close to the truth. |
| March 30th | The ice is still 24 inches thick. |
| March 31st | It came in like a lion.......but it's going out like a lion as well. Sigh....... |
