Another very nice spring day - before another storm.  We have sleet, snow and rain heading for us tomorrow - again.  This picture is what I saw when I looked out my bedroom windows this morning.  The snow is very pretty, and all waves from the wind.  The snow at my back yard stake was down to 18 inches, and I'm sure it will be down more when I look tomorrow.  Today's sunshine must have settled the snow quite a bit.  Water was beginning to run off the snowbanks and along ditches - but there's still a lot of snow to melt before we see green grass.

This picture was taken yesterday (Sunday) in West Danville.  There

were quite a lot of snow machines out and plenty of snow on the trail.  There were  a good number of vehicles with snow machine carriers parked at across from Hastings and at Marty's in Danville.  It was a very pleasant day to be out on the trails - not awfully cold - and people were taking advantage of some of the last of the snow machine fun.  

I was in Danville today at the historical society building for a meeting, and things were beginning to thaw out there, too.  The roads aren't getting any better, but we've had pretty easy mud seasons, at least on West Shore Road, for the past few years and I'm thinking our luck is going to run out this year.  I delivered Ice-Out tickets to Henretta, our data specialist, and the end of North Shore Road by the recreation area isn't bad at all.  Some years that has been really muddy.  There is a lot of water in the road here and there, but until the ground thaws out, there's no place for it to go.  Things that have been buried under the snow are beginning to reappear, and I've noticed there are more birds singing on these nice days.  

Last night we were awakened by some coyotes up above our house.  They were yelping as they raced through the woods.  I think that may be young ones running with the adults - learning to hunt.  It seems to me I've read that's the way they learn.  I would think any animal that might be prey for them would be long gone way before the coyotes were in range.  They seem to be in some sort of contest to see who can yelp loudest and longest.  We hadn't heard them for a while - of course we haven't had the window open as much because of the cold weather, either.  It was pretty warm last night, so they were enjoying the warmer weather, too. We were glad our cat, Woody, was safely inside.

The Ice-Out clock is ticking, but it will be several weeks before there's much more to report, I think.