The traffic reporter on the radio this morning said, "Watch out. There's a heavy fog."

I laughed.

I was driving right where they said there was a heavy fog, but the fog had lifted far above the roadway. It was no danger at all.

Then I came to Spring Lake Township. Whew! As I drove into Sand Creek Township and then Jordan along Highway 282 this morning, the visibility was probably only a few blocks. 

So not all weather reports are bogus after all.

This is about the time of year when I start seeing phantom signs of spring. Temperatures in the 30s make me think a few more weeks will have trees budding and grass poking up green heads for the new year.  Any bird that opens its beak sounds to me like it's heralding the advent of a warmer season.

This morning as I was driving into work I noticed a flock of Canada geese in their familiar V formation winging their way across the road in front of me. That's not odd in itself, although I'm not used to seeing these birds in January. 

But they were flying northeast. 

Seems winter has come upon us with a vengence. Yesterday morning I looked out my office window and there was nothing but a light dusting. Now there's a pile of plowed up snow eight feet tall.

I was worried this morning that the roads would be horrendous, having been snowed on all night, but much to my surprise and delight, they really weren't that bad. 

Last night, however, was a much different story.

It's official. Summer is over.

Today is the first day of autumn, according to the calendar. Personally, I felt fall hit Jordan two weeks ago. That was when I noticed how many trees were starting to change color and the dried leaves starting to gather against the road curbs. It was also the first day of the public school year, which I'm sure helped feed the mood.

The University of Minnesota Extension's Mary Schoenbauer, who offices at the Scott County Fairgrounds building in St. Lawrence Township, near Jordan, tags her e-mailed press releases with this line:

"Life is like being in a ship on the ocean. You can't control the weather, but you can adjust the sails."

I thought that was insightful and just wanted to share it with you.

According to our intern, it's "attack of the killer bees out there!"

It's inevitable, but also a great sign that spring is actually here. I've seen quite a few wasps bobbing through the air and crawling on the concrete. Now if only the trees would start turning green!

So did you get out of the snow yet?

Send us some photos of your plight with the white stuff from yesterday's storm. editor@jordannews.com

I think I saw a flake!

The big news of the morning seems to be the snow we were told would be quite literally dumped on us this afternoon. I heard multiple reports saying it was supposed to start snowing around 9 or 10 a.m. As I write this, it's about 11 a.m., and the skies are just as grey as they were this morning and the grass is just as brown as it was yesterday.

Not that I'm complaining. I like being able to see the ground.

Hip hip hooray! Today is the first day of Spring!

According to the calendar, anyway. With any luck mother nature will pay attention this year. I think we can all agree it's time to smell the flowers again.

Some of the things I'm looking forward to doing:

1. Spending more than five minutes outside
2. Tuning up my mountainbike and hitting some trails
3. I might start jogging (or try to)
4. Airing out my apartment (aka opening the windows) 
5. Packing up my winter coats, gloves, and scarves
6. Planning a camping trip

Groundhog day is coming up.

I'm not sure about all of you, but when I was a kid, Feb. 2 was one of the happiest days of my year. Not only is it the perfect kids holiday (what child wouldn't love celebrating a magical season-predicting creature that looks like one of her stuffed animals?), but it also meant the end of the cold and the imminence of blooming flowers and green grass and the return of the songbirds.

That was when I was little, and I lived in an area where flowers really do bloom in mid-February and the grass really never turned brown.