Still Winter

April 2nd through 8th
Last week started off snowy. The lake area was blessed with just short of a foot of the white stuff. Walking outdoors became difficult. The storm passed and clearer, cooler weather moved in. Windier, too. Gusts of up to 40 mph had snow devils dancing down the lake for much of the days. The condition of Knott Lane progressed from "snow covered" to "got snow chains?". Everything outside ended up getting kissed by the snow devils. Even that strange fuzzy bird hanging around the feeder got a little smooch. The tapping fields got buried. In a normal year (i.e. not this year) the feet would be off the ATV and we'd be backed up with sap. Currently, the feet are still on and the sap is frozen in pucks at the bottom of buckets. The sap shack is frozen quiet for now. That is expected to change in 20 degrees or so. The warm sun and cold nights combined to create some truly impressive icicles. The metal roof of the bar took those impressive icicles and bent them into a cold art piece. Due to the transitory medium the roof chose to create its piece, we'll be scheduling a showing soon. It'll probably be gone by July. Probably. By week's end, Knott Lane went from that need chains thingy to a muddy, icy morass. There was a lot of sliding and a few soakers, but no one fell. No one we know anyway. The lake ice is down a bit. It's gonna be a while before the 26 inches of cold is gone. Probably by July. Probably. Later in the week, the wind died down enough to allow the drone to make tiny holes in the sky and take a few pictures. The good news is the lawn does not need mowing. At least not that we could see. The bad news is that the wind created drifts are trying to reclaim the driveway and parking around the bar. It's unlikely that the lake ice goes out next week. Our current guess it that it'll probably be gone by July. Probably. The up coming week should see a restart of the 2018 sapping season. So far this year, syrup production is down about 75%. Not sure if it's the cold or that thought of dry pancakes that have made us shiver. Could be a little of both.<br><br>-Nemo can't find that strange fuzzy bird in any ornithological book.