We had about a half inch of snow on the ground this morning - but it didn't stay.  The day was beautiful and sunny, but the temperature stayed in the 30s or maybe low 40s and there was a really mean north wind that swept down the pond in a blast right out of Canada and the Arctic. In spite of that, the snow melted away, but during the afternoon we had flurries and tonight we will likely have more. The thermometer at 11 o'clock p.m. is reading 20 degrees.  That's ice-making temperature.

I talked with Ted Chase on North Shore Road this afternoon and he said the roads out his way are holding up very well.  He credits Danville road crew for improving them over recent years.  Mud season seems to kind of come and go this year.  Freezing back up helps to dry it out and lets the deep frost come out more gradually, so the mud doesn't get so bad.  I don't think West Shore Road has thawed much yet.  

Ted also said a fisherman he talked with about two weeks ago reported 20 inches of ice.  That was about the same time we'd had a report of 16 inches.  I'm sure it varies depending on the currents underneath. 

I hope everyone had a great St. Patrick's Day yesterday.  I forgot what day it was.  How could that happen?  I totally missed out on  corned beef and cabbage washed down with green beer.  I'll have to make up for it some other time.  Right now I have to concentrate on Easter - ham and green eggs, of course.  In case you don't know how to create green eggs - all you need is a little blue food coloring.  Scramble the eggs with the food coloring - blue and yellow make green - looks like slime, tastes way better.  Kids love it.  

I like parsnips at Easter - it was tradition when I was growing up.  My dad used to dig them from the garden where they had over-wintered.  Usually there was enough snow so the ground wasn't solidly frozen - not sure it would work that way now, having had so little snow.  There was something about having them fresh from the garden that made them taste especially good.  I planted some and tried it once, but we had a lot of snow that year and I gave up digging and bought some in the store.  When I did dig them up a few weeks later after the snow had melted, they were just as good as I remembered.  And pineapple upside-down cake for dessert.  There, my Easter menu is all set.