It was 79°F here, today. Perfect. No humidity, a light breeze… As close to heaven as weather will ever get around here.

And it’s March 9th.

The average temperature for March 9th is 50°F. The average temperature for the month of March is 53°F. The park service even changed their forecast of the peak bloom of cherry blossoms in Washington, DC to March 18-22. Their initial forecast was for peak bloom to fall sometime during March 31 to April 3. Climate deniers can’t deny this one…

It’s getting warmer. Even Nonna agreed to have her space heater turned off, today. She stayed snuggled under her electric throw, but the blast-furnace that is usually her room was almost bearable.

I knew the moment I got up that it was going to be clean-out-the-refrigerator salads for dinner. When it’s cold outside it’s clean-out-the-refrigerator soup. Broth or lettuce. Same concept. Both get bread.

Tonight’s salad started with a base of romaine, and was topped with hard cooked eggs, avocado, bean salad, grilled chicken breast, sliced red peppers, tomatoes, kalamata olives, blackberries, and maple-bourbon glazed bacon. Victor made a honey mustard vinaigrette.

It was better than good.

Rumor has it tomorrow is going to be another record-breaking day. Maybe we can have ice cream for dinner…