C'mon Spring! You Can Do It ... !

Many of us celebrated the first few days of spring, which officially arrived this past week on Wednesday, by taking a walk in the woods or on the beach. 

Paul Lenoci went a little further and jumped right in ... to the water. He traveled from his home in Cheshire, CT to the shoreline and, by West Wharf beach in Madison, CT, donned his waders over a pair of jeans, walked into the water and began clamming. Water temperatures were around 37 degrees. 

He said he wished he had worn his snow pants instead of jeans under the waders, but said he was looking forward to getting some clams. He generally uses them in clam chowder, or steams then on the grill. Thursday, he said he was leaning towards steaming them on the grill. 

Here is a recipe for clams steamed on the grill, one that calls for just two ingredients, beer and clams. If you want to get a little more fancy, here is a recipe for clams steamed on the grill, in a garlic white-wine sauce.

Here is information on how to get a shellfishing permit in Madison.

If you're not quite ready to jump into the water yet, the beaches are a great place to go for a walk. A great starting place for a walk is West Wharf beach. Once you are in the West Wharf Beach parking lot, you can walk down to the Surf Club beach, or walk back down West Wharf Road and take a right onto Middle Beach West, then up Island Avenue to Middle Beach Road, one of the most popular walking routes in Madison. Or you can just walk over to Madison Beach Hotel, have lunch, and enjoy the view. 

Hammonasset Beach State Park is another great place to walk. You can walk on the beach or, if that's too windy, there are plenty of trails and roadways that give you some protection from the wind. There are plenty of places to walk in the woods in Madison as well. For a complete list of hiking trails, check out this page from the Madison Land Conservation Trust. 

If you want to stay in the loop and get involved in a wide array of outdoor activities this spring, a great way to do that is to join Friends of Hammonasset or join the Madison Land Conservation Trust. Or both. 

Here's the forecast for Madison for the next few days from the National Weather Service: 

• Saturday: Mostly sunny, with a high near 44. Northwest wind 6 to 11 mph increasing to 13 to 18 mph in the afternoon. Winds could gust as high as 28 mph.
• Saturday Night: Partly cloudy, with a low around 25. Northwest wind 10 to 13 mph.
• Sunday: Mostly sunny, with a high near 45. Northwest wind 8 to 10 mph.
• Sunday Night: A slight chance of snow after 1am. Mostly cloudy, with a low around 31. Chance of precipitation is 20%.
• Monday: A chance of snow before 1pm, then a chance of rain and snow. Cloudy, with a high near 40. Chance of precipitation is 50%.
• Monday Night: Mostly cloudy, with a low around 29.
• Tuesday: Mostly sunny, with a high near 43.
• Tuesday Night: Partly cloudy, with a low around 31.
• Wednesday: Mostly sunny, with a high near 44.
• Wednesday Night: Mostly cloudy, with a low around 31.
• Thursday: Partly sunny, with a high near 44.