Madison, WI

Started walk at 7:45 a.m.

Unbelievable, I felt that I was walking out into a March morning. Gloves were unneccessary this fourteenth day of winter in Wisconsin. The sky was overcast but the high today is expected to be almost 50 (30 degrees warmer than New Year's Eve). Jogging past us was a group of runners that included a bare-legged woman who gave testimony to the unseasonably warm weather.

The paths were very muddy. I could see yellow finches in the prairie, cardinals in the woods and crows soaring above the trees. Somewhere, I could hear the unmistakeable beat of a woodpecker.

The Island is no longer ice bound. It's tawny grass clearly visable. There is open water (or water on top of ice) on all sides and ducks paddling near its shore.

The coffee was good -- Costa Rican. Cranberry muffin -- spongy -- few cranberries -- not even as good as yesterday's -- which was bad.