Signs of True Spring

So a recap of last week. Last Sunday I seen my first Robin of the year, we actually saw 4 flying together across the road. Then the weather turned cold and we had some more snow mid week and lower teens for lows and lower 30's for highs. This Saturday and Sunday we have had highs in the lower 40's today was 47 degrees but with the bright sunshine it felt much higher than that. You can tell by the warmth of the sun that winter is really losing its grip on us.

Today the kids seen a Red Winged Blackbird! Yes! One of my favorite sounds and sights of the spring is the Red Winged Blackbird, its song does wonders to lift my spirits from the winter doldrums. Cant wait to hear its song now. If you have never heard the Red Winged Blackbird song you can hear it here http://www.learnbirdsongs.com/birdsong.php?id=25

Take care and enjoy the coming spring.

Jon

A break from the melting

The weather dipped below freezing this morning to put a stop to the melting for now. It has been in the 40's since last week and the last 2 days we have received about 3 inches of rain so add that to the snow melt and we have some serious flooding conditions around us.

The ice is just starting to separate from the shore with a little open water visable. After all the water that has been on the ice I am sure it is getting real week. No more ice walking for us until next year.

I hate to wish for a few cold days but it would be nice if it stayed dry for a few days and the temps stayed below freezing. We dont need anymore water run off right now and they certainly need a break in the Red River Valley.

Take care.

Jon

My personal pond!

Well the weather has been awesome since Saturday. We have had highs in the 40s or 50s everday since Saturday. It is hard to belive how much snow has melted. The anual spring tradition of having a pond in my back yard started on Monday. The pond is up to 8 inches deep in some spots. Yesterday the lake had waves on it! No the ice isnt even close to off yet but between the snow that has almost all meleted off the lake and the runoff from around the lake, we had quite a bit of standing water on the ice, enough so that the wind was making small waves! Cant wait for open water.

Monday morning on my drive to work I witnessed an awesome sight. Two swans were doing their spring dance in the Sand River between Ida and Little Sand. The water was so calm that you could also see the reflection of their in time bobbing heads on the water. What a majestic bird.

Take care.

Jon

After the storm

Well we ended up with 10 inches of new snow on Gilmore and some pretty impressive drifting. Nothing like the drifts on the prarie land to the west though. This morning was -9 and hopefully we can now be done with the sub-zero weather. The forcast is for highs above or near 40 all next week! YEA! We did end up with -28 yesterday with a pretty good breez so it was nasty.

Hopefully the flooding isnt too bad over the next few weeks. There is quite a snow pack to melt.....

Take care.

Jon

Not agian!

Its been way too long since my last update....

Well after the 2 plus weeks in Florida the weather on Gilmore wasnt too bad. It was a little cold on March 1st when we got home it dropped to like -15 but was then in the upper 30s almost 40's most of the week. We did get to miss out on a 2 inch snow fall while we were gone and quite a bit of below zero weather.

Today the schools closed at Noon because a blizzard is aiming right for us. Expecting 6 to 12 inches of snow with 20 to 35 MPH winds so it will drift real bad. Ish is all I have to say cant wait for spring!

Take care.

Jon