2/22/10 MISTY ISLES AND BURSTING BUDS

MADELINE ISLAND EMERGES FROM THE FOG
HALF AN ICE ROAD IS BETTER THAN NONE
ASPEN FLOWER BUDS ARE BURSTING OPEN

Sunday, 8:15 AM. 17 degrees, wind W, calm. The sky is cobalt blue, except for the usual band of clouds in the east. The barometer predicts snow but I think not. A misty Madeline Island emerges from the fog as the sun rises.
The ice road is partially open, vehicles from the Island being driven to the weak spots about 100 yards off the Bayfield shore and folks walking the rest of the way to town, or to a second vehicle parked at the ferry dock. The wind sled of course is also running.
The aspens are actually beginning to bloom, their fuzzy catkins bursting through the bud scales.