No reasons not to smile!

I chuckled to myself as I looked at the pictures on my son’s Facebook page from a year ago. He had taken pictures of the dump of snow in our drive way during Christmas break 2010. He stands over six feet and the snow bank was above his head.
I contrast that with this year, where there is hardly any snow on the ground and south facing roofs are free of snow. We are having perhaps the mildest winter to date on record and our community has broken several warm records.
Everyone continues to remind me that “We’ll pay for this nice January weather”. The jet stream continues to float high above the region bringing in the warm weather. Walking down Scott Street at noon on Monday, there was a skip in every step and a smile on every face. Weather can make such a difference in one’s attitude. There was a song in everyone’s voice as this warm weather has lifted everyone’s spirits
The warm weather feels like March, and many of those strollers on Scott were wearing their fall jackets or light weight spring jackets.
I am not an ice fisherman. Perhaps it is because the two times I can remember going fishing with my father, our car became stuck and we really didn’t fish at all. Of course then, everyone used their vehicle as a block from the wind and you sat on some sort of a wood box and jigged your line. I can’t ever remember catching any fish.
This year the ice fishermen too are all smiles. Catching has never been better and the mild weather has made fishing much more enjoyable.
The ice fishing season has gotten underway across the region and trophy catches are being recorded. Large walleye, northern and trout have made their way to the surface for photo shoots and then have been released back down the holes they came up through.
The weather has been so nice that when the temperature hit 8 degrees C, a lot of the fishermen left their shelters behind. It was March fishing.
Bryan Gustafson has towed his boat to Florida to try his hand at competitive fishing at Okeechobee and his Facebook photo shows him with an 8 lb and 7 lb large mouth. I would say that was a successful day of practicing. Jeff Gustafson will soon follow with his boat to the southern states.
The new fishing catalogues have arrived. The new electronics are on the shelves. And winter might end in just over two months.
Is there any reason not to smile?

–Jim Cumming,
Publisher