April 15, 2012



The snow is all gone Down There.



The grosbeaks are back too.















JB left for Down There Friday morning under blue skies and 28 degrees.  It was supposed to be cooler all weekend, but yesterday warmed up to 50 even though we had a cool breeze.  Snow is about 3/4 gone now, but it's been a slow melt so we don't have much mud.  And so far our April showers have been just that.  No downpours like the last two years.  Yet.  It seems like it has been a very sudden transformation into Spring.  For five months we could not work outside and now we can every day.  One day we couldn't.  The next day we could.  At least it's not like Chicago where Spring lasts for a week, if you're lucky.

I worked on the branch piles on the North ridge while JB was Down There on Friday.  We didn't pump out water when he got back, but we did yesterday.  Seems to be less now, but who knows?

On our Friday walk Dinga discovered a mouse nest.  I saw her digging and then walking around with something in her mouth.  I called her over and she was carrying three tiny baby mice very gently.  I got them away from her, but of course couldn't put them back in the nest.  So I had to kill them.  Don't ask. . .

Also on Friday, I found a tick on Dinga.  None on Jesse though.  Am going to have to be more diligent about checking for them now that the weather is staying warm.

Yesterday right after breakfast, even before doing the dishes, we drove JB's Jeep down to get mine.  Wanted to get down and back up before the snow on our road got slushy.  There is still quite a bit, so I left my Jeep where the main canyon road meets our road.  Can probably get it up in another week.  It's just not quite as agile as the Wrangler.  We cleaned our road on the trip, moving two large rocks and several smaller ones.  

Living Up Here is the first time in my life that I have really felt the pulse of each season.  Probably because they affect us so much and what we can do.  Down There working, we were doing the same thing five days a week almost all year long.  Except for vacations, there was really no time or reason to be affected by the changing seasons other than the clothes we wore or maybe what we did on the weekends.  Nothing drastic, except maybe a snow day or two.  I love that Up Here, every day we are aware of the time of year, its weather, and the changes in the landscape and critters.

Thought for the day:  Optimist: someone who tells you to cheer up when things are going his way.  Edward R. Murrow