As March wore on little by little it began to warm. The ice on the rivers and streams began to break up, and slowly the snow was melting. A cold snap would stop the thaw, but only for a day or two. Even though the snow was gone from the roof of the machine shed it dripped inside for two weeks from the melting snow that the wind had packed into the rafters. As the thaw continued a pond began to form in the lowest part of our front yard and the adjacent field. In a few days it had almost reached the top of our mounded driveway, which was all that was keeping it from flooding our house. Here was yet another situation caused by the weather that we could do nothing about, only watch develop. Bare patches of soil were appearing in the fields in the immediate area around the pond, which was hopefully a sign the snow melt had peaked and maybe the ground was thawing enough to absorb some of it. Finally the water level of the pond (nicknamed Lake Jacobi by Shelly) began to recede and what had been a cause of concern became a place of joy as our dog retrieved thrown sticks from the shrinking pond. The buds on the trees were growing and the days were getting longer. After that seemingly never ending, very harsh winter spring was finally almost here.
Off The Back Porch 