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	February 28th through March 6th, 2022

Last week started off in a typically thawy fashion. Highs crept above freezing and lows did not fall below the 0°F Deep Winter threshold. During the evening, Orion was setting in the West. During the waking hours there was talk of maple tapping among the men. That changed later in the week.

Before the change, squirrels taunted bar owners by constantly raiding bird feeders. To be more accurate, they continued to raid feeders after the change, but before they seemed more happy about it.

Before the change, short parades of wild turkeys marched a well worn path in front of the bar.

Before the change the sunsets were photographic and, more importantly, not so wet, icy, and cold.

Before the change, January's bottle rocket war forts seemed to be holding up well in the face of the March sun and temperatures.

Upon closer inspection of the south's fort, some damage was evident on the sunward side.

The northern fort had its battle damage augmented by the sun damage.

The condition of Knott Lane is typical for early March. Chain up stations are open and runaway truck ramps are well marked.

Before the weekend, the temperature dropped to Deep Winter lows. Friday morning's low of -7°F is no way to begin the first weekend in March. The turkeys seemed to take it in stride.

Then it got warmer and dark and ominous clouds began to move up from the South.

The turkeys seemed unsettled by the darkening sky.

The real ugliness started as rain.

With the temperature dropping below 32°F, the rain began to freeze on the trees, roads, and snow covered lawns.

After almost 24 hours the rain stopped. The ice that pretty much covered everything did not seem to lift the contusiony mood of the area.

By the end, some cabins grew some impressive icicles.

There was also a little snow thrown in for fun.

The water saturated snow on the bar's roof froze into thick ice sheets. Heat leaking up from the bar melted the bottom layer and chunks slid off in great, startlingly loud sheets.

Inside the Forest County Potawatomi center's field house, temperatures remained in the high 60's°F during the entire weekend weather event.

Where sand and salt was put on the roads, the traction is not too bad. Untreated roads are smothered in ice. Going anywhere is best done slowly and carefully if at all. After the freezing rain, the temperature drop banished tree tapping talk into late March. Those that continued to babble about holing maples and collecting sap were responded to with eye rolls and, if they persisted, were dismissed as insane. The colder weather will shorten the time to gather maple sap, but should extend the snowmobile season. The conditions made getting a lake ice check too difficult this week. We'll get one next week. Until then, let's just assume it's really thick.<br><br><br>-Nemo promises less turkey, more lake ice checks next week.

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