I'd like to report a crime

Officer? I'd like to report a crime. Yes, a kidnapping. No ransom demand, but I know hundreds of thousands of people who would pay anything - anything - for her return. The kidnapee? Oh - Spring. No, not a person, the season.

On the bright side, we have not been hit as badly as places north. If you drive three hours up to Green Bay (just kidding, you can't right now, the roads are treacherous and almost impassable), you would find record-setting snow totals from this rather long duration storm. On top of what they received the last couple of days, they expect another 6 - 12" throughout the day today. To add insult to injury, there is a strong possibility of flooding along lakeshore properties, as the wind is gusting 25 - 40 miles per hour.

In Milwaukee, we woke up to about an inch of wet, heavy slush, with a nice slick coating of ice underneath. I did go out to get something for breakfast (I've been off since noon on Wednesday, and other than picking up a grocery order Thursday afternoon, have not been out of the house...feeling a bit stir crazy), and had a bit of difficulty getting out of my own driveway. Both coming and going, I needed to back up and get a running start to get over the plowed rim. Usually, it would not have been an issue, but remember - heavy and slushy. The intersections were a mess as well, with high plowed ridges crisscrossing the center.

The salters were out, but the roads were bad enough that a lot of churches, including my own, canceled at least the early services. Smart move.

Now, of course, it is...snowing. Big, fat, wet flakes. The weatherpeople are still claiming we are only getting about three inches accumulation overall. They are lying liarpants.

As I mentioned, I took vacation days Thursday and Friday. It pretty much rained continuously from Thursday night on, so I've spent much of the last days in the kitchen, or lazing in the recliner reading (Martha Grimes' new Richard Jury mystery). On Friday, I cooked a largish turkey breast and stripped the meat from the bones. Some was dinner that night, some went into a salad on Saturday, just over a pound was frozen and the rest was set aside while I cooked the carcass to make stock. The resulting turkey soup is about the best batch I think I've ever made, and perfect for weather like this.

Wednesday's temperature is going into the high forties, which means most of this, other than the compacted plowed piles, will dissolve into a wet mess. Somewhere underneath, spring must be hiding. At least we hope that's where she is, rather than lazing on beach in Boca with no inclination to come back north.