Cold March Weather

Choppy surf on a windy March afternoon

With a thick snowpack still on the ground in Minnesota, and temperatures well below freezing, I'm certainly not going to complain about the weather, even though someone told us this morning it was the coldest March he could remember.

With no sunrise to watch and more rain in the forecast, we went out for breakfast at The Frog Pond. The rain was pelting down when we came out of the restaurant, so there was no competition for the pool when I finally got there shortly after 9:00 a.m. I had to set my towel and cover-up under a table so that they would stay reasonably dry.

 

The sun came out a little but for most of my swim, the rain was quite heavy -- strong enough for me to wonder if someone might question my sanity -- not that I have any intention of changing my behavior. I thought happily of childhood swimming in the rain, when even the Ottawa River sometimes felt warm. After 30 minutes or so, the air dried up a little and I felt that I could sit in the hot tub and look like any other person warming up after a dip. I felt a little lonely and cold, and with a little regret, I thought to myself that it was a long time till cocktail hour. 

Yellow daisy in the dunes

The wind had picked up so much by early afternoon that we simply took a little ride along the shore and had a happy hour supper at Sea Critters, our default location for a good, quick meal. The waves were strong and noisy on the Gulf side of the beach, and we wandered down toward Land's End where the shell collectors were out in full force.

We sat on a bench beside a patch of daisies and the soothing pounding of the surf encouraged me to drift off a little. I closed my eyes and dozed for a few minutes as we basked in the late afternoon sun.