I want to beat up Punxsutawney Phil.

A couple days ago it warmed up, and yesterday it rained a lot.  With the amount of snow we've had, a little rain was a good thing, as it helps melt the snow and wash it out.  By midday yesterday the snow had rinsed down enough that it was tolerable to walk in the fields (previously, you had to wade through thigh deep crusts of snow and ice).  I grabbed a slicker, my rubber harvest overalls, and a good pair of rubber boots and took our dog, Tucker, out for a walk around the fields.  He's got a lot of extra energy these days, since he has no dog buddies to romp with, and I wanted to see what's flooded--if it's not flooding now,  it's not likely to flood at all.

The fields were pretty much as I imagined--only flooded in a couple of really low areas that we knew would be issues.  The drainage ditches are coursing like rivers.

This ditch is probably 7 feet deep, and was totally dry this August. There's about 3 feet of swiftly rushing water now... water that otherwise would be soaking into our fields.

Also, the ice on the river has finally broken, giving way to a quickly flowing current.  Tucker has no experience with the Hudson, and was eager to investigate.  He doesn't quite have the grace to balance on an ice floe, though, and promptly went under.  He popped up a minute later and clung to it as he drifted down river, then finally swam back to shore.  He doesn't seem to feel cold, though, and if anything the experience only amped him up more.

Tucker, playing penguin.

Around dusk, the driving rain turned to driving, freezing rain.  By the time it transitioned to snow we'd gotten a good 1/2" of solid ice on everything.  This morning, that ice was buried under 4 new inches of snow.  I was a fool to think spring was here.

With the ice under the snow, it's pretty treacherous out today.  The sun did come out, though, and it's not too cold, so hopefully this will melt out and we can move forward.  In the meantime, if you see Punxsutawney Phil, tell him he's got it coming.