Today when I woke at 6:30 the sun was already shining. Spring is coming to the northern Rockies and Plains and it is surprising and a little saddening. This winter did not produce the snow I had hoped and therefore my usual activities of skiing and playing outside were limited somewhat. A friend of mine said "The Dutch potatoe farmers" over in Amsterdam and Belgrade Montana said winter would not arrive until Febuary 28th. They were right. A week ago began a trend towards the snowy wintery side with storm totals around 25 inches on the mountain. We finally hit a 60 inch base and the summer may not be so dry after all. The question is how? How did those farmers know that it would be such a late winter? Why is that knowledge not commonplace? Are we not all connected to the land the way we were once? I will let you draw your own conclusions there.
Everyone knows the most common telltale's of bad winters. Wooly worms, and squirrels tails, but how many of us can say winter will be here on x date. Not many. I encourage you to watch the seasons again, pay attention, grow a garden and connect with this place we all call home. Take the kids out into the yard, or the park, or the mountains. Watch birds, fish, turn over rocks in the creek and see whats lurking there. If we all just slow down a bit you would be amazed at what you see and notice. Here's to the seasons!
