Two weeks ago I wrote that La Crosse had received snow that would last until March. I called that one wrong. The snow is gone, and today is nearly fifty degrees Fahrenheit.
The La Crosse River Marsh refuses to settle into winter. One day the ice looks thick enough to walk on. The next day the larger pools have a patch of open water, and just a day later there’s almost no ice at all. There is a guy who sets out traps for muskrat and beaver in the winter, and he’s yet to venture out.
And the marsh is still water. Any moving water is wide open. I was in Riverside Park yesterday to see the Rotary Club’s annual Christmas light display, and the Mississippi River doesn’t even have floating ice chunks. A few tundra swans and Canada geese have yet to fly south, and they aren’t sure what to do.
My dog Jack is as confused as the waterfowl. One day he refuses to go for our daily walk because it’s too cold, and on the next day he fights the leash when I want to head for home. Fluctuating temperatures must also activate scents, because on recent warm days Jack has stopped to sniff more than the usual tree trunks and fire hydrants. He smells the curbs, the sidewalks, and the wood chips in people’s flowerbeds. It can take us ten minutes to go a single block.
I usually exercise at the recreation center on campus, but the place closes down for two weeks while the students are gone for the holidays. In the past, I’ve continued to exercise by bringing my bicycle into the house and sticking it on a device that turns it into a stationary bicycle. I did put my bike up on its stationary pedestal, but seriously thought about leaving it outside to go on actual bike rides. It’s no colder now than when I was still riding in early November.
Manyu leaves for Taiwan mid-January. For her, each warm day before her departure date is a gift. I just looked at the long-term forecast, and there is nothing close to subzero temperatures until after she’s gone.
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