Pretty much the same here. After a couple weeks of beautiful sunny mild weather, we woke several days ago to an inch or two of fresh snow. It all melted away by lunch, but the pattern was repeated for two additional mornings, including today. Temps are forecast to remain below freezing all day for several more days, before warmth returns and the snow leaves.
A friend and I are tentatively planning our first open-water fishing trip of the season for next week. While the lake ice is still feet thick, the Red River north of Winnipeg is apparently open just south of the dam and locks, a swirling and rapid section that is always the first to break up and thaw. It's also a wonderful shore-fishing spot for many species, and especially so for big Channel Cats, one of my favourites.
My pumping-out of my single in-ground pond progresses slowly. There is a large open chasm of air beneath the ice, where the liquid water is pumped out as it accumulates, but the ice itself was still essentially one solid piece and slow to thaw. Yesterday morning I wandered out there with the dog and my coffee, and impulsively grabbed the big sledgehammer (sitting there for this purpose) and stepped out into the centre of the ice surface. I swung once and was rewarded with that nice hollow sound....which prompted me to start swinging and smashing with purpose. Within minutes I had the ice cracked into numerous smaller pieces that dropped down to the bottom and which will thaw much faster.
I gingerly picked my way back across the now-broken surface, and carefully stepped up onto the little "dock" where we sit and watch the pond. As I stood there, coffee in one hand, big-ass hammer in the other, surveying my destructive handiwork, I heard my wife's voice behind me: "Do you have even the remotest idea how idiotic you look right now?"
I glanced down at myself theatrically, surveyed my bathrobe and Crocs, and adjusted my tuque. "Why, no, as a matter of fact I don't. Why do you ask?"
But I knew she was right. I looked down at Duke, standing dutifully by my side. He met my gaze, gave my hand a tentative lick, and then bounded up onto the deck and followed my wife back into the house. I was crestfallen; you know you've sunk pretty low when your dog is embarrassed to be seen with you.