Same Old Question: Is it spring yet?

Our dedicated cadre of one or two readers will have noted that the coming of spring has been on Mr. Fuzzy's fuzzy mind of late. Its not just the normal mammalian impulse desiring warmth, fresh food and beauty, no indeed, for Mr. Fuzzy's chief concern is having the Farm's ducks in a row when the time cometh. Last year, the ground was almost totally covered in snow the first week of March but by the third week of March, spring had moved on and summer was no longer just waiting for her debut. Mr. Fuzzy has never seen such a short spring except for one year in Austin, Texas; four of the five years he was there, it was 90F by Valentine's Day. Dreadful.

It has been a dry winter, a burn ban is already in effect, and the old timers here are very concerned about whether this pressages a dry summer and poor crops. Thus, when an inch of rain fell last Sunday, we were elated. The daffodils jumped an inch the next day or two. Then a few seasonable days of bright sun, days in the 50s and nights in the 20s.

Yesterday was a very Scottish type of day- gray (the solar disk was never visible), still, and a non-stop drizzle which only produced 1/4 inch of rain in about 18 hours. Oh it so reminded Mr. Fuzzy of Fife and his friends there, sigh. Today has been another story: the high temperature was 51F at midnight and has fallen ever since - right at sunset (if the sun was visible) it is 30F. Rain has fallen hard much of the day and the wet deck has now a thin coat of ice, as do the trees. Some snow was mixed in with the rain late in the afternoon.

The area at the front door was badly conceived by the builders of this house and it is optimally graded to force about half and acre of rainfall right to the front door (and undoubtedly to the basement walls). There was such an depth of rising water there this morning that Mr. Fuzzy had to dig a relief channel to drain it away from the residence of ten cats, two dogs and two humans. This is only the second time in 27 months that the water had so accumulated. The solution is to alter the topography of the entire half acre which will not be easy or pretty. Oh what to do?

It is due to clear tonight and the temperatures may drop low enough to badly damage the iris, daffodils, lillies, crocus, etc.; we can but hope otherwise.

What does the week hold? Is this the last gasp of winter or merely a reminder there is more to come? Surely the spring pancake breakfast held by the Falling Branch Association last week must indicate spring is here, no? Hmmm.