WAITING

Sunday, 9:00 AM.  25 degrees F, wind direction variable and unsettled, moderate with occasional strong gusts.  The barometer has fallen to 29.80 in., and the humidity has risen to 89%.  The morning is chill and damp, with a touch of bitterness in the wind. 
    It is overcast again, with a film  of fog over Madeline Island. We haven’t had any melting to speak of so there is plenty of snow cover, and the massive old black willows in the woods on Ninth Street must bear a foot and more of snow on their sprawling limbs.
    It is eerily quiet, with no sound of the wind sled on the ice or traffic on the roads. There is an air of silent anticipation, as we await a predicted major storm.  There is little bird activity and few signs of life, animal or human.  Everything is hunkered down, waiting.