No fish for you!

I had planned to take the day off to go fishing in the Madison area today. The weather had been gradually improving for the past two weeks, with average high temperatures in the low 50s. So I thought it would be safe to take a Friday off and head for some confirmed trout water.

When I woke up this morning, I didn't even have to get out of bed to know it wasn't a fit day for fly casting. The wind was shaking the walls, and rain was pelting the windows. I might have been tempted to head toward a stream if it didn't require forfeiting a day of vacation and driving several hours. But I erred on the safe side, and went in to work instead.

My office is a mostly windowless building, so I was unaware that the weather was getting even nastier outside. At noon, I walked out to my car and was bemused by the snow flurries. By the time I was halfway into my usual 5 minute commute home for lunch, the winds were blasting my snowtire clad car back and forth on the highway, and the snow was more than just flurries. The previously brown lawns were now a consistent blanket of white.

Oddly enough, I remember the Farmer's Almanac mentioning something about snow in April this year. Once again, they have vindicated themselves.

So now fish for me. Not today, at least. But I banked my vacation time and I'll dip into it again in a couple of weeks. By then I'm sure the weather, and hopefully the trout, will be cooperative.