It’s been warmer this week, and no new snow. The accumulated snow has largely disappeared, excepting the huge piles of snow at edges of streets and parking lots. Temperatures have been in the 30s and 40s — no 50-degree heat waves, but no 0s like a week before or so (yeah, Gordyville Jan. 29 was in the single digits). It’s nice that the snow melted, making the streets safer for all humanity, and that it hasn’t been replaced, but what we’ve been left with is brownness — brown everywhere on the open prairie. It’s supposed to be in the upper 30s and 40s for the next several days, and yeah, that’s more welcome than the zeros. It’s sort of a no-man’s land. You can’t expect spring in the first week of February. It’s not bad out, but it’s not exactly pleasant either, but it’s about the best one can expect for the first week in February, so I trudge on with my job. Weather like this leaves not a whole lot left to look forward to.
[From journal of Thurs., 6 Feb. 1997, Journal 16, page 205]