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Portents of Spring

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April 18th through 24th, 2022

Last week began with with more than a whiff of Winter. There was cold. There was snow. There was booing every time we looked out a window. That all changed as the week progressed. Snow fell early in the week. It was not all that deep. Still, to the many that are recovering from PTWD, it was horrifying. Most of the snow was quickly burned off by the late April sun. The sugar men were able to park the tracked tractor and wheel up to the tapping fields. The frighteningly cold nights and the mild days had the trees running hard again. A 24 hour burning schedule could not keep up with the maples. The lack of sleep contributed to the general grump of the sugarmen. Spring felt a little closer when we witnessed a rare and wonderful act of nature as an ATV molted. In just under an hour, its discarded tracks lay on the concrete as it fluttered around the ground on shiny wheels. The return of seasonable sun and temperatures exposed many a lawn. There were also some impressive lawn puddles. The many puddles on Knott Lane serve as markers for the many potholes that have come to define the road. By the end of the week, Lake Lucerne started to show signs of ice-out! Great cracks in the ice covered the North end of the lake. We didn't get any images of the southern parts of the lake, but it's opening up, too. We did not get out on the remaining ice sheet to check its thickness, but the edges of the cracks were still thick enough to support the weight of a duck if that helps. Strong winds from the South on Sunday made the cracks bigger and the bits of open water angry. Other signs of Spring included flocks of noise heading North; lawns attracting raucous color; squirrels; and Yetis. While many might argue that Yeti are more associated with the Horsemen of the Snowpocalypse, in Crandon, it's really a summertime thing. With Zombie Winter shuffling off to wherever it goes (Arctic Circle? Siberia? Minocqua?) it looks like Spring is starting to wake up and stretch its roots. Reports are filtering in of Lake Wabikon being ice free on Sunday, so that would put Lucerne's Ice-Out about a week or two away. If you haven't entered <a href='/iceout/IceOut2022.html' class ='defaultlink2' target='_blank'>this year's ice-out contest</a> yet, now's the time!<br><br><br>-Nemo's growing tired of hats, untanning, and booing the weather.

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