The Winter of Eternal Suffering.

In the Upper Peninsula of Michigan it has snowed almost every day since April 1st. Nature has given us a clear April fools joke. We had a few weeks of good weather in March, the snow had almost all melted lulling us into believing spring had arrived. And then BAM! We are currently past record snowfall for April and it's only the 8th of the month. And we are expecting another 9 inches of snow by Monday. This writer loves the winter, and I find shoveling snow a peaceful and rewarding enterprise. But I have to say, enough with the snow already! I am looking out the front window and watching what would be light fluffy flakes floating down, turned into eye stinging chill producing arrows of crystal ice by the north wind. We live high up on a hill here in Ishpeming. And I swear nature says, "well they are closer to clouds, let's give them an extra deep dose of snow."   Still, it can be pretty. As this picture of our backyard shows.

During the month of March we watched the snow melt and thought, "hey lets use the nice weather to put that ramp on our front porch." Only to have a wet weekend of snow and rain mix. Looking at the snow now, I suspect we won't be doing that until May. Complaining about it is a pretty common thing to hear. Neighbors and strangers alike all talk about how they wish it would just end. All of my family and friends who are in the business of snow removal are simply overwhelmed. You can see them trudging to their trucks with scowls on their faces. Mumbling about "when is it ever going to" and "hell has got to be white." Don't get me wrong, I still like shoveling snow. I love the fact that you can see the results of your work instantly. And up here on the hill we get little traffic, so it's almost always a quiet job, filled with the "shush" sound of shovel and snow. But there are times.... after shoveling snow for 23 days straight for example. When the thought of a snowblower comes to mind. But then I just have to remind myself of how much time I spend sweating and swearing over a lawn mower that won't start and I think. "Hmmmnn... you know, shoveling isn't so bad." Anyway, my first full post to the blog since time, tide, and laziness has kept me from posting. Ciao for now.