My neighbor commented not long ago that we’d received just about all of our snow this winter during March. He was right. There were the usual dustings in December, then January was really dry, as was February. Not that Wife and I noticed, being on the road for almost that entire month.

But March. Oh, yeah. Came in like a lion, and here at month’s end is going out like one, too. A couple of weeks ago we ended up with more than 20” from a single storm. Last night the temperature dropped, the wind started howling and there was snow. This morning the western side of the house looked like it had been hit with a giant, wet snowball. The wind froze the snow to the glass and siding. 

There have been some really nice days. Those bright blue ones with the temps climbing into the low 40s, promising that spring is indeed on the way. But they’ve been very few, and I’ve not yet been able to take advantage and get down to Crawford Notch to hike Mt. Willard and Avalon. They’re still on the to do list, as is the Solo Stove test. 

Meanwhile, I’m trying to keep the wheels in shape for the good weather. I tend to walk every day, and one of my go-to routes is over at Echo Lake, not far from here. The dirt roads going around that lake were pretty challenging this winter- ice everywhere. You have to be conscious of every step so as to not wind up on the deck. Ice is hard.

Yesterday was one of those bluebird days, and I walked my usual route on East Echo Lake Rd. The ice was gone from the road, and while in typical post-winter condition, it’s definitely more walkable than when iced.

The loop around the entire lake is about five miles. The section I walked yesterday contains all of the elevation and is doable in about an hour, so that’s my usual route.

The walk was excellent, and more signs of spring evident with many, many birds flitting through the trees.

Also saw a lot of turkey tracks in the roadside snow (and mud), and I heard a pileated woodpecker having at it somewhere in the woods. I couldn’t spot that guy. I jumped when a couple of smaller birds flushed near the road as I passed. They may have been Northern Mockingbirds, but I’m not sure.

The flowers planted on March 15th are all starting to germinate. Yesterday the impatiens put forth its first sprout, as did the pansies. Two of those popped. The morning glories are ahead of the pack, and the petunias are coming along as expected.

Saturday is April 1st, and I’ll start over 100 vegetable seedlings and sixty or so flowers.That will give everything 8+ weeks to be ready to be set out, which I time for June 1st. Except for the onions. They’ll go in around the middle of May or thereabouts. For those of you that followed last year’s “Garden 2022” posts, here’s this year’s tracking sheet.

So that’ll do it for this week. The sun has been out for a while now, and while it’s still cold, it’s not too cold for a walk.

Thanks for stopping by.