Three weeks ago I thought this is winter is over. Plenty firewood still stacked up. The pond hadn't frozen over all winter. That was three weeks ago. Yesterday, I was doing the morning routine, carrying buckets of water to the chickens and dogs, and heard redwing blackbirds calling from up in the treetops. You know that call even if you don't know a redwing from a robin. You hear it all summer. It's topwater bass fishing early in the morning and flyrod fishing for brim on beds. And mosquitoes.

But redwings and snow? That's not right.