What is it about March and mud, anyway? It rains all winter long and there's no problem, then March comes along and the ground turns to soppy, soupy mud wherever the turf isn't super-thick. Why is that? I'm mystified.

It's so bad this year that some of the hens actually have dirty feathers. I'm not sure I've ever seen this before. Normally they look sharp in all weather.

This, too, shall pass, as the weather warms up, the rain slackens, and the grass suddenly leaps into insane rates of growth. In a month I'll probably be complaining that I can't keep up with the mowing, even though I use a tractor.

Helpful hint: Wear an old pair of overalls over your other clothes when it's muddy, even if your other clothes are another pair of overalls. That mud gets everywhere!