Opening Day

For some folks, January is made passable with the arrival of seed catalogs and the imaginary planting that will come in the spring.

Then, for those of us who love our sports in Cheese land.  Winter starts when the Packer season ends and the countdown to opening day begins.

Before that is another blessed phrase, 'pitchers and catchers report' that means the sound of bat on ball and the pounding of baseballs into mitts means the boys of summer are not far off as spring training begins and we can hear the sounds of spring and grass growing through the microphones bringing us games of the exhibition season.

Opening Day is just 73 days away.

The simple sentence seems to wipe away drifts of old snow and the crunch of shoes across salt-encrusted parking lots.

But there are still things that make winter great - and I'm looking forward to this weekend and hopefully some majestic views of Bald Eagles in flight over the Wisconsin River.  It's been a while since I've seen one in 'the wild,' and there are several hundred that winter not far from here.

If we're able to make the trip and successful in seeing some - you know what I'll be writing about this weekend.

Another thing that makes winter fun - basketball - continues to provide distraction from the cold.  With wins like the one the UW men brought back from Bloomington, Indiana this past Tuesday - watching  the Badgers play could be fun for a while, maybe - if we're lucky - until Opening Day!