That about sums it up. I (and pretty much everyone in the 807 area code for that matter) am tired of the ridiculous weather we’ve been experiencing of late. It actually sucks. For every step we take forward, we end up taking two back. Is this a sign of global warming? Well, it has to be something. I can remember as a kid being out at camp (we’ve had this discussion before-cottage, the lake, whatever) and getting snow in May. However that was very isolated and it disappeared fairly quickly. This is a completely different animal.

Confused? Well, it is now April 16^th, the winter snow still has not disappeared, and every time we get a nice day that melts some of it, we’ll get a dump of fresh stuff and have to start all over again. That was the case on the weekend. Then yesterday we got a pile of snow, so much so that they cancelled the rural buses to our school (the day becomes a write off, since many of the “city” kids don’t bother to come). Our normal temps should be above 10C, but we’re not even close to that. Everyone is wondering when spring will show up; I think there are a lot of cases of SAD out there, myself included.

Melting snow, April 2013.

Blizzard, April 2013.

Forecast, April 2013.

Okay, so enough about the weather, though ranting about it makes me feel better. Ya, take that Mother Nature-you’re being a real cranky @#&%^! Let’s focus on the positive though. We’ve successfully arrived at midterm, which means the end of the school is approaching. Hard to believe exams are only 9 weeks away. Wow…it’s going by quick and there is so much to do! I’m not sure if the craziness outdoors is keeping the kids in check or driving them batty like the rest of us. I know I’ll certainly be glad when it’s all over.

The railway front has been fairly busy this past week. Once again a lot of the focus has been on the Silver Mountain (and Area) Historical Society. We’ve been trying to plan a board meeting ahead of a society general meeting and it’s proving quite an undertaking. We have six directors, spread out over a wide geographic area and with quite different schedules. Trying to find a convenient time for everyone is not very easy to do. We are gathering tomorrow night with a fairly lengthy agenda. It’s going to be both busy and exciting.

Speaking of the society, I did receive a much awaited email yesterday. I spoke last week about a letter that I sent to the Ontario Heritage Trust regarding property for sale along the North-Gunflint Lake Corridor. It was mixed news however; unfortunately the Trust does not manage land outside of southern Ontario. However, the gentleman who emailed me graciously offered to speak with me about other possibilities for land preservation. I will be calling him tomorrow afternoon, so hopefully it will provide some useful leads.

To go back to the topic of this blog, the current weather issues are having a detrimental impact on my planned hiking schedule. Last April 29^th I did my first railway hike of the year; at the rate we’re going at, I’ll be lucky to get out by the middle of May. I was hoping to walk portions of the grade in Minnesota on the first Saturday of next month, but that seems a bit ambitious. I’m very anxious to take another look at the double trestle near the first switchback located just off Tuscarora Road (County Road 47). Fingers crossed I’ll be able to get there at some point before the trees fully leaf out.

Anyway, I have a thousand and one things to do right now, so I should get rolling. Definitely more to say next week. Until then…