RYAN BAKKEN: The winter of Bakken's discontent

Times should be good. Our state is as rich as a Rockefeller. And the UND hockey team is heading for the NCAA playoffs.

What more could we want?

Well, spring would be nice. Eyeing green -- or even brown -- grass would be a plus. Winter's insistence on sticking around is driving us nuts.

It's cold. It's gloomy. It's depressing. It's snowing cats-and-dogs. The roads are as slippery as a Nigerian investment scheme.

Feeling enthusiasm for anything is difficult. The glass isn't half-empty; it's half-full. However, the problem is that the half-full part is rotten.

We can't even escape because airlines and hotels in warm places are mostly booked. The few vacation openings are more expensive than the buyout of a higher education chancellor.

To make matters worse, last year's weather in March was downright balmy. I already had played 72 holes of golf by this date in 2012.

However, matters could be worse. Contemplate the following potential Page 1 newspaper headlines that would be even more depressing than our weather:

• Hakstol smiles, breaks jawbone, out for playoffs

• Blizzard Zelda brings whiteout conditions

• Oslo's Dahlstrom Motors' showroom runs aground in Drayton

• Growers plant rice, not wheat

• Demoted by MSNBC, Schultz returns to Red River Valley

• Terry Bjerke leaves Grand Forks City Council for job as city librarian

• State pays oil companies billions for removing pesky crude from ground

• Twins leave American League for Northern League

• Ponder out, Favre in

• Chancellor Shirvani uses his buyout to purchase Williams County

• Mayor Bloomberg forces Big Mac to become Small Mac

• Social Security age bumped to 85

• NFL slaps 60-inch waistline limit on linemen

• Grand Forks housing tight; kennel goes for $50,000

Reach Bakken at (701) 780-1125; (800) 477-6572, ext. 1125; or send e-mail to rbakken@gfherald.com .