Good morning to you all, again.  The weather people were not sure this morning whether we would hit 80 again today though they thought we might possibly break the temperature record.  It is quite warm right now (10:30am).  We had a nice drive this morning because Mom had an appointment for blood work for a doctor's appointment first week of April.  We also went to our favorite farmer's market.  We get our eggs there and I wanted to check out how far along their green houses are because I get some of my more exotic plants there.  They are about three weeks away from having their stock out.  Given how warm it has been it is hard to remember that we are in the week-and-a-half of March.  Even though I am actually on schedule, the temperatures make me feel like I am seriously behind and time is slipping away. The news irritated me this morning because the weather person showed a map with a 'Bermuda high' which he said could set up in the position to give us warm weather 'for weeks' promising more information later.  Well, we never got the further information.  I just did a Google search and found out that that high pressure system is a summer phenomenon.  I commented to Mom this morning that the temperatures make it feel that we skipped spring altogether and went straight to summer.  I may not be far off.

An interesting sight along the drive this morning:  price signs at the local gas stations.  On Monday I noted that the price we saw as $4.15/gal.  This morning?  Between $4.25 and $4.29.

Illinois is definitely feeling unloved by FEMA and the Federal Government.  After that really nasty spate of tornados that hit through southern Illinois, Indiana, and northern Kentucky about three weeks ago the Feds denied the state's request for a disaster declaration and the rebuilding funds that would go with it.  Governor Quinn appealed but yesterday was refused again.  I feel for them.  A couple of years ago a similarly destructive tornado struck about 100 miles east of us and that area was also denied disaster status inspire of significant destruction in the area.  For the same reason: the amount of the damage was not sufficient to trigger a disaster declaration.  I don't know how well the area is doing now because, of course, the news doesn't follow up on such stories.