Lyrics Come To Mind...

"I start to complain that there's no rain..." Not because a slightly overweight bee girl is tap dancing near me...or a colony of bee people dancing in a field was a vision that I beheld. It is simply because there is no rain! We really need it too. Everything is very dry around here. In fact, there are burning bans in place in all the counties in our area. No permits were being issued last I heard.

Aside from no rain...there really has not been much to complain about weather-wise. The sun has been shining...the temps (were) decent...and I had some time to start doing yard work. It should not take long to finish everything up and get this place ready for a spring gathering!

I am discovering that it is too early to start writing anything of importance or meaning...so I will end this for now. I will try to catch back up tonight or tomorrow though. :)

-Derek

Spring Aleady?

The evilness that is daylight savings time fell upon us last night. As I have probably noted in the past...daylight savings time is my lease favorite event of the year. Not only because of the time change...but it really (especially this year) just means spring is coming. It is a bittersweet end to winter this year. Very little winter activities took place in my world...and I already have my sled garaged for the season. I would LOVE for a big snow to fall so I could get some more riding in...but with the weather we have been having...even with a huge snow it would only last a week or two and be gone again. We have no snow in the front yard...and just a little bit along the tree line in the back yard. I even went out to pick up sticks today!

Note that this is an unusually early start to spring. The last two years have been noted by having mid-April snowmobiling adventures. This year...I have not had mine on the trails since the beginning of March. It will surely be one of the earlier springs in recent history.

I am excited to get out and about at my new digs though. I look forward to working on the yard...cleaning up the driveway and garage...and working on my perfect hot tub location. Maybe a tax credit benefit? Who knows. Someday I will have one and it will be oh so sweet. We have not had anyone drop by unexpectedly lately...which is nice. The neighbors are starting to get a bit more inquisitive about what is happening here...I believe very few of them new the old people left and we moved in. Strange that no one would realize that...but everyone stares with strange looks on their faces when they drive by or see movement outside. We will all get used to each other though...hopefully. As long as everyone minds their own business and does not come around snooping...we will all co-exist in our little area without issue.

Whew...glad that little rant is over. The bay across the street is nearly thawed completely now...that can be seen here http://coastwatch.glerl.noaa.gov/modis/modis.cgi/modis?region=m&page=1 through a bit of cloud cover. I love that website...pretty cool imagery to look at. The forecast continues to keep us in the warmer weather. High 40s, mid 40s, and low 50s look to be our highs over the next few days. The lows will primarily be in the low 30s...maybe dropping into the 20s for a short period. Next weekend looks to bring some cooler weather...and even the chance of...yes...the "S" word...snow. Doh! Oh well. A little snow will give us the moisture needed to bring these supposed professionally landscaped flowers out around our house! :P I will be the judge of that!

Enough for now...

Goodnight from Northern Michigan!

-Derek

Met the neighbors today...

Seem like nice people. They live across the street from us. They seem to know most everyone down here...and are "in the know" when it comes to who is doing what and when. They stopped by during a walk...so hopefully we can get to know them better. :)

As for everything else...the weather has been PHENOMENAL if you are ready for spring. Low to mid 40's during the day...10s at night. (at least last week...I think lows this weekend have been in the 20s.) Tons of snow has melted...enough that we were able to continue our annual ritual even at the new place. We got the axe and shovel out and started hacking away at the ice and snow on the driveway. I created a few little "rivers" to help runoff from the roof flow down the drive...and removed all ice from the end of the drive so everything can flow into the road. When the family that lived here moved out they used trucks and left quite a thick layer of snow for us to have to drive on. I salted it a few times to break everything up...and it paid off today. We got nearly the entire drive cleaned off. Temps look to pop up into the 50s by mid week this week...so we might see the yard clear off too! :D Toward the end of the week it looks like we might even see some rain to quicken the effects of the heat. I hope for a nice wet spring though...I need to see what all we have planted in the back yard! :P

The other sign of spring...people. There are SO many people out and about. It is almost like watching ants. (even when it comes to us.) Everyone is coming out of their holes and start to work on little chores that are required to ready themselves for spring. It is fun to watch!

Anyway...enough for now...I think it is time to go watch TV. :P

Goodnight from Northern Michigan!

-Derek

2/27/10 Ride...

We actually made it out for a decent ride! We left the house and headed toward Harbor Springs. Knowing that there is some logging going on we chose to shoot up toward Pellston. I was thinking we would just head to Alanson from Pellston since the trails in Mackinaw were reportedly horrible. Well, they were. We rode North up the trail and ended up stopping because of the mud and dirt along the rail road grade. Nasty riding for anyone who chose to continue the ride...but there were certainly sleds driving South from Mackinaw. Overall the trails were not in horrible shape. It helped having the few inches of snow that we had received. All said and done we did get a three hour seventy mile ride in. Not bad for somewhat miserable trails! (inland Harbor/Alanson/Pellston were perfect!)

I drove up to Pellston today in a truck...along the way I noted the condition of the trails. HORRIBLE. The areas around the roads are nothing but ice. With temps approaching 40 the last couple days...they are going to be hurting really bad soon. I would suggest sticking with two tracks and low traffic areas. Areas not near roads would be alright as well.

As a side note...a previous co-worker and current friend had a major heart attack yesterday morning. He is still in pretty bad shape but appears to be recovering. My thoughts are going out to him and all of his family while he is in recovery. Get better Don!

-Derek