March went out like a lamb, just as it came in and it appears that Mother Nature is not going to play any major April Fool’s joke on us as far as the weather. I’m grateful for that. It’s very disappointing to have a big snow when the majority of the white stuff that fell over the winter is gone.

     Each year our family has a contest to predict when the last of the snow in our yard will be gone. Our farmstead usually is one of the last places around to have snow because we have a lot of trees that shade the yards. Ellen optimistically said that the snow would be melted by April 11. The rest of our family thought that estimate was way too early and predicted it would be gone by the end of the month.

      Ellen’s sunny outlook paid off and she is the winner and will have bragging rights over the next year. This year is one of the earliest I can recall for a snow-free yard. Now I’m anxious to get working on cleaning it up. I am hoping it doesn’t rain too much this weekend so we can pick up branches and rake the leaves off of the spots where they are the heaviest. We don’t worry too much about raking in the fall because our yards are so big and, meanwhile, the leaves make good mulch. After a couple of mowings in the spring, the leaves are all chopped up, anyway.

        I also have some other outdoors projects planned for the weekend, so I hope the weather cooperates. If it doesn’t, it’s OK because it’s only the first of April and there’s plenty of time to get the jobs done before our time is consumed with lawn mowing, gardening and summer fix-it projects.