the great thaw

[mellowtigger]

I still have a few small piles of snow left in the shadows, even after recent days of 21C/70F weather. I expect them to disappear today, though. Our forecast includes 28C/83F temperatures or higher today, perhaps setting a new daily record for Minneapolis, then fresh snowfall returns.

The great thaw is upon us. I've used my small handheld vacuum to suck up dozens of box elder bugs in the house. I despise those creatures more each year, I think. My allergies are back, so I'm on antihistamines again for a few weeks. Those rotting leaves outdoors are exposed to air again, so mold is in the air in this new warm season. I never saw any snow fleas this year, though. Maybe the melt was too sudden for them to show up on the white snow after the leaf rotting resumed?

The deep snow this year might have been a blessing in disguise. All of this sudden snow melt is not producing the expected floods. Maybe the ground was protected from harsh cold by the thick snow blanket, so it let more of the melt percolate into the ground rather than run off? That seems to be how this spring is working, at any rate, because...

I've been able to dig into the ground with a shovel much sooner than expected. I spent hours Monday and Tuesday digging (instead of job hunting, like I should have done) to transplant a lot of things. From small flowering bulbs that I want to spread (they're too small to find before they sprout) to large trees. I moved my apricot tree that sagged under the weight of the heavy snow. I hope it and the even larger mulberry tree survive the experience, although their growth might be stunted this year from the shock. We'll see. Birds appreciated my digging, though, with a few different species coming to see if I unearthed any yummy worms to eat. All over the back yard, I saw lots of rabbit droppings, so clearly they spent time here this winter nibbling on the flora.

Unfortunately, with warmer weather comes human intrusion too. More than once I heard local gunfire while I was outside. This incident less than 1 block away is the only gunfire I could document, although I heard the sirens from this police chase farther away. I'm getting significantly less sleep than I should, thanks to all the yelling, fireworks, and gunfire at night.

I still want to stay, though. I like my garden too much, it seems. I hope to find a job soon.

Comments

[mellowtigger]

P.S. It's official. It was 31C/88F in Minneapolis today, breaking (by a lot) the previous April 12th high temperature of 28C/83F from 1931.