March 1st 2018

Yesterday was like a tale of two days. During the day, my husband and I were in the vineyard, tethering the last rows of netting that we did not get to when winter came and it got too cold (yes, alas, we are weather wimps) to work. Our John Deere dealer came up to the land since he had a delivery in Mystic and found us at work. It was almost 60 degrees and perfect for working outdoors. My husband took a picture of this cool patterned beetle and learned that it was a Sap Beetles (Glischrochilus quadrisignatus) also known as Picnic beetles or Beer bugs.¹ What is a beetle doing out so early in the season, we wondered? This is the overwintering adult who will lay eggs that will become adults in June. They like ripe or overripe soft fruit, grains, sap, mushrooms, sweet corn... Okay, we have been warned.
Part 2: March 1st, midnight.
Beginning almost at midnight, March 1, the rains began to arrive heralding the beginning of another bomb cyclone, named Riley. The first time I heard of that moniker for a storm was on January 3rd Vintage 2018: Winter East Coast Bomb Cyclone.²

We are bracing for heavy rains and winds beginning the latter part of today, March 2nd. The weather forecasters predict that the storm will last into Sunday and may bring with it power outages and flooding in the coastal areas.
Another warning to heed!
References:
1. University of Wisconsin, Milwaukee, Two Beetles that Bite, August 2, 2011.
2. The Weather Channel.