A fresh coat of snow brightens our landscape today, courtesy of Mother Nature. The storm that was predicted for Sunday and Monday looked to be a bit of a bust initially, with a mix of rain and snow on the first day. That night, it had pretty much stopped. I wasn't surprised, as it had often been like that this winter. But by Monday morning, I could see that this time, I was wrong. It had snowed through the night, and by the way the trees were frosted, it looked more like December than April. I had been commenting previously on how gray and dirty our snowbanks were looking. Someone heard me somewhere, and decided to change that. By midday, the snow had stopped falling, but the wind was blowing it off the trees, and it looked very much like a blizzard. We ended up with about six inches of heavy wet snow, yet another welcome contribution to our collection for filling up Gunflint Lake in a few more weeks.

Last year, our ice went out on April 10th. We were gone to Hawaii at the time, and so missed seeing the earliest ice-out in anyone's memory. This year, I think we will be on a more normal track, since the cold temps last week brought out the usual groaning sounds of ice-making. In December, we hear cool spaceship type sounds--pings and such, as the ice thickens. This time of year, it is a heaving noise, deep and guttural. I have seen new cracks, some almost a foot deep, the walls of ice about an inch apart. Down at the bottom, there is more ice, so I know it is still safe to walk on it. The other day, we ran an errand down to a neighbor's cabin, and we took the little truck. It was safer on the flat lake than the extremely icy road, with hills, twists and curves. Funny that I should be feeling that way, as I've not ever been fond of seeing vehicles larger than snowmobiles on the ice. It was, however, a fast, efficient and safe way to go.

The sun is out, and feeling warm, so that should go a ways towards melting this new batch of snow off of the road. Ever mindful that spring truly will return, Greg is busy working on his dock project today, putting new decking on top. He started last fall, doing a lot of welding and reinforcing on the framework. It seems funny that he should have to shovel off snow in April, just to get back to work. But quite possibly, a month from now, it will be time to be wheeling it into the lake. So I guess today is as good a day as any to get the job done. Some projects know no season, it is just that some days are better than others.

Any day is a good one to catch the sunset. Lately, as the sun moves more to the west from the southwest, we've been seeing great color in the sky. Another treat as we move towards the warmer time of the year.