TROUBLE IS, THEY MIGHT WIN

ICE AND OPEN WATER AT THE BEACH

NATIVE PUSSY WILLOW FLOWERS JUST BEGINNING TO EMERGE FROM THE BUDS

TAG ALDER CATKINS ARE STILL TIGHT; NOTE THE TINY ARACHNID

IT WAS COLD AND BLOWING A GALE

Tuesday, 9:00 AM.  36 degrees F at the ferry dock, ditto on the back porch.  Wind variable, calm.  The sky has scattered high clouds and overcast, and some haze.  The barometer is rising, now at 29.86".  It looks like it will be a good ice melting day.
   Buddy hadn't had a run in days so we went to the beach late yesterday afternoon.  The thermometer said it was pretty warm, but it lied.  The wind blew so hard I could hardly stand up, although Buddy, with four legs and a much lower center of gravity, didn't have any trouble.
   I took the opportunity to check the native pussy willows (Salix dixcolor)  and found the flowers just emerging from the buds, so it will take a succession of warm sunny days before they really open.  The tag alder (Alnus incana AKA rugosa) male catkins are still small and stiff, but a tiny spider was active on one of the flower stalks, and as I examined it, the wind blew it away as it spun its silken strand.  35 degrees and a 40 mile an hour wind...not yet a balmy spring day at the beach.
   We watched the Democrat Town Hall hosted by Fox News yesterday and will make the suggestion that Bernie Sanders and Donald Trump team up as Third Party candidates.  Bernie's sincere if whimsical personality would soften Donald's bombastic crudeness, and since neither one of them says anything very sensible,  they are quite compatible.  Trouble is, they might win.