No need to mention probably that it's darned cold here tonight - again.  We seem to be held in the grip of deep winter with no sign of letup.  I just checked the thermometer and it's right on the 0 mark.  There's been a brisk wind all day, whipping the half inch of new snow we got last night into furrows and making it feel like it's well below zero.  I haven't had an ice depth report from the pond fishermen lately, but I bet we've been increasing the ice measurement daily for at least the past week.

I was out at about noon today - didn't feel up to doing the full hike up the hill, but was out long enough to, as my Grandmother Bolton would say, "get the stink blown away."  There was plenty of moving fresh air, especially  right by our mailbox when I headed north on West Shore Road for a few years.  There isn't much between us and Canada right at that point.  A little further up Henretta's driveway, it's more sheltered.  I mostly wanted to get outside after being cooped up with some sort of aggravating "bug"  for the past several days.  No, not Fred!  Geeze some of you folks!  I've had a little touch of something that took the starch right out of me.  All I wanted to do was sleep.  So that's mostly what I've been doing, and now the fog seems to be clearing out of my head, I'm steadier on my feet, and my eyelids don't feel like they're made of lead, so I think I'm on the other side of things.  Still not energy for a full day doing anything, but I'm getting there.  It's been something of an enforced vacation; lots of rest, haven't missed a meal, but also haven't accomplished a darned thing for almost a week.

So everyone up north stay warm tonight - and the rest of you who are basking in sunshine and warmth (Homer told me it was a beautiful warm day in Florida today) enjoy it for all of us and get those wonderful tans good and deep so if you come back early, they won't fade away while you're waiting for some real summer weather back here at Joe's Pond.  There's no promises this year about any kind of weather - just that it's probably going to continue to be weird and unusual.