Bigmouth Buffalo Fish: “I am not a Carp...” Checking out the surging, cascading fishway at Marsh Lake I couldn’t help but notice the extended schools of huge carp, their fins slicing the surface of the water, their snouts poking upstream. Only thing was, they weren’t carp! They were Bigmouth Buffalo, a very similar looking but entirely different species from carp.
Spring is Sprung. Or has it? They say it’s Spring.
My son, who is currently stationed overseas, seems to have acclimated so much to his environment, he has a hard time with remembering what time of day it is in the United States. And so phone calls happen very early in the morning. Most often moments after I actually wake up. The early morning calls are the worst. While I’m an early riser, I’m not a functioning morning person. I need to recover from sleep with at least a good 15 minutes on the sofa with the dog and some coffee before anyone engages me in conversation. Alas, he calls and starts the conversation with “So how is your day?” Only to be met with “Dude, I literally just woke up. I haven’t had any day yet.” Every time, and yet it’s routine now.
Pre-Garden Efforts & Anxiety A friend asked me if I’d been out gardening yet. I assured him that, “Yes, dressed in waders and wearing a snorkel”, I had ventured forth onto my plot.
An Exchange with the Easter Bunny Early one morning, Rob and the Easter Bunny met in a sunny, dew-pearled meadow. The rabbit had a basket of Easter eggs at his side.
As we’ve been working our way through the transition to new systems, and a new layout, we’ve definitely had some learning by experience moments. We’ve been working out all of the kinks, and brainstorming for the future with the capabilities we now have.
April is National Fair Housing Month! Fair housing is a growing need and concern within all communities. This is especially true for the victim/survivors that WRAP works with. WoMen’s Rural Advocacy Programs, Inc. (WRAP) provides advocacy for victim/survivors of domestic abuse and sex trafficking/exploitation in Lincoln, Lyon, Redwood, and Yellow Medicine Counties.
Mother Nature sure has her wires crossed. Snow and slush and then warmer and then rain and snow again. AND. There is more mixed precipitation forecast for the coming week. Come on, Mama. Give us a break. I am so looking forward to flowers blooming in nature.
Much of the region had some snow on Sunday as a low-pressure system pushed across the state. It was pretty to see but I think many of us are over this winter and want to see the warmer weather settle-in “for good,” or at least until next fall! I know some of our area farmers have told me that they are hoping to be able to get out into the fields, and that they needing some drier days and warmer temperatures to dry things out this spring. Unfortunately, more moisture will be with us for Wednesday into Thursday. It will also be very windy as we could see some gusts to 40 mph! It certainly won’t be a couple of great days weatherwise.
Migration on the Move For the past month or so hundreds of thousands of birds have been streaming up from Central and South America, heading north along major flyway routes across the United States. Minnesota sits along the eastern edge of the Central Flyway and the western sweep of the Mississippi Flyway, becoming both the fly-over zone and summer residences for a large portion of those birds: waterfowl from the east, songbirds/ upland birds from the west, with a mixes from both sides.