HERE IN THE PINEY WOODS BY THE FATHER OF WATERS, it is warming up fast. Only 497 degrees below zero this morning.

The sun is still stuck in the sky, but it doesn’t matter as the heating element is busted and it’s just a decorative lamp now. The chickadees are throwing off their long underwear and laughing. But they are tougher than we are. The blue-china sky continues to crack. The river booms at night and sometimes at mid-day. The Deacon pines stand stoically as always and are likely not offended at the deaths of thousands of bark beetles. As Kathy happily cheers on the demise of deer ticks. It is a fine and glorious day in Minnesota. And it keeps out the riff-raff.