it is warm in Minneapolis

It has been warm lately. Unusually warm. And getting warmer.

Normally, this is the time of year when we have a few days of arctic temperatures down to -29C/-20F, with the ground blanketed in a thick layer of snow. As I write now, the air temperature is 2C/36F. I've heard birds chirping outside for much of this afternoon. There is no snow left anywhere in my yard. It has been so warm for so long that I have sprouts appearing in my raised bed in the front yard.

Sprouts. In Minneapolis. In late January. The forecast for next week includes temperature as high as 9C/48F... in the first week of February. It should be bitterly cold.

I took advantage of the warm weather, though. The micro-route bus was unavailable for my ride back home from the grocery store today. That usually means standing for an hour to wait. That hurts my back (I've mentioned the mild arthritis before), so I decided just to haul everything on a walk back home. It took me over 20 minutes, but I got home uneventfully. Well, except for having to pause frequently to drop the bags a moment and rest my hands.

There's other stuff going on locally, but I'll save that news for Moody Monday.