I realize it has only been two days, but it just seems like we have been stuck in ugly weather for weeks. I guess that is because we are really still waiting on that really nice mid-late spring weather to arrive. You know, the kind with temps in the mid 70’s and sunshine?
We are also waiting on all of the snow to melt. All of the natural snow is pretty much gone. I suppose if one wanted to, they could head up into the higher terrain of Keweenaw County and still find some natural patches. I was talking with the FedEx guy last week and he said that earlier in the week, the woods were still full of snow in spots up there. I still have some small piles left from where it was piled up by me moving it, or sliding off the roof. However, if you look in that first photo, you can see that my re-shoveling job of around 10 days ago paid off. There is hardly any snow left there and would probably still be at least 18-20″.
We are still waiting for the grass to green up in earnest. We are still waiting for all of the leaves to open up this way, although some of the trees in the Houghton/Hancock area have started to open some. We are still waiting for the spring flowers to pop their heads up. So are the humming birds. Nora has been watching their progress north for the season and put out our feeder last week and it only took around 24 hours and there was one at the feeder. Heck we are still waiting for the bugs! Well not waiting, but they have not appeared yet.
We are not missing the snow flake flying though. We took a trip to Houghton/Hancock to pick up a few things this afternoon and flakes were flying from Kearsarge to about the airport. Big, wet and white ones. Not the kind where you wonder if it is something other than snow. It did not last long and there was no accumulation, but that is a different case in NW WI and around Duluth, where the flakes are falling and piling up. Anyone for a round of golf? That was the image from the Lake Nebagabon cam in the NCN. It is a shot from the Norwood Acres Golf course.
In reality, the weather has been improving some. I actually cannot even remember them, but my weather station claims that we hit 67 on Monday and 69 on Tuesday. I also know that Friday was not too bad of a day. A chilly one with a high of only 53, but we did have clear blue skies, which made for some pretty good conditions for ride-your-bike to school day for Grace and her classmates.
I personally had a quiet week. Had some minor surgery done on Monday, basically the same thing I had done on April 1st that caused all the problems the past 6 weeks, but this time it was to hopefully fix things for good.
Nora has been pretty busy cleaning and packing. Not the everyday stuff, just the stuff we thought we would never have to worry about because we were never planning on moving from this place! Amazing how things can collect when you are in that mind-set. Even though we have no plans to move once we settle in Jacobsville later this summer or autumn, we have both promised to not let things collect like they did here!
The final thing I have to share with you is an event my older brother will be involved in this July. He is a survivor of Leukemia and will be doing a 150 mile bike ride to raise funds for the Lymphoma/Leukemia Society. I am so proud of him for his fight against Leukemia and then all the complications that followed and I know he feels grateful and honored to be able to help out against the disease. So if you would like to read more and/or make a contribution, you can here. Thanks!
Good night from the Keweenaw..
–JD
