For Every Season

I just finished stoking the wood stove in the Shop. It's cold here today. Might need a few more logs. The snow if falling really hard and fast as I look out the window and the Absaroka's were under storm clouds this morning as I drove to work. The ground is still blanketed in white and the scavenging deer I see each day on the roadside and in the farmer's fields are beginning to look desperate. I can't help but think that they too are ready to see some green grass and sunshine. It's April 25th - 4 days until my "Spring" Birthday. Last year the snow was long gone, the grass was green and starting to really grow. I remember not having my gardens planted last year at this time either, not because of the snow covering them but because I was too busy to get them in early. This year I was ready and now I wait patiently for one single day where the snow is melted and the dirt is thawed enough to till.

They say that this winter and spring are actually "normal" for Montana. I have heard the stories of winter lasting from October to May, with mutiple feet of snow blanketing even the valley towns for the entire season. Digging your cars out, being snowed into homes. While this winter was not that extreme, it was above the 10-year average. I am thankful that our parched grounds and thirsty forests and rivers will see more moisture this summer. As all of this snow melts in the peaks I am grateful for the gifts it will bring. It will trickle down to our ranch and farmlands, feed the rivers, wetlands - keeping it full and cooler for all our trout and wildlife. I am hopeful that the additional water will keep us from another devastating wild fire season. Don't get me wrong -I love fire and I love the way that forest fires cleans the forest, bring new life and respect that they are needed and part of a beautiful circle of life in the Northern Rockies. However, our lands have not been maintained as they should, there is too much underbrush, dead fall, and when these fires come, mixed with the drought we have seen for 10 years - they eat up the land, burning hotter than they should, filling the Valleys with smoke that is indescribable. I am not fond of hot summers with smoke.

It seems every season, every element of the seasons is teaching me something here. I see the the miracle that is the snow and water, the sun and the heat. This ecosystem is so delicate. We think of it often as so massive and "strong" - the hugeness of the mountains and the skies deceives us. It is much more delicate than it appears. The winters feed the spring, the springs feed the summers, the summers determine how the winters will look. I have learned to love and loathe each season all at the same time. In the middle of the ski season I am LOVING the massive amounts of snow and powder found in the mountains. Bouncing and floating and playing in those hills are some of my favorite memories I have. Come Spring, I am sick of my layers, wool socks, white belly. I am ready for a day in the yard, walking in shorts and sandals, hiking in the hills and not needing all the cumbersome winter equipment to see the back country. But the second I start to growl, moan or complain I see the bigger picture. Some little creature, some insect, some fauna is grateful - oh so grateful that it is fed, that it will not be starving in the heat of the drought summer.

The fishermen are wishing they were on the rivers sans their overcoats, the spring bug hatches are a bit behind because of the cold weather and water temperatures . . . But we all know how good this long winter, this added blessing of snow is. Our run off season will be longer, allowing our waters stay full, the grounds will be more nourished, our fish will be happy, our water-loving friends will be happy that the rivers are full and waves are big, fish are rising. It's all part of the process. Who am I to judge or grumble at such a magnificent life force. I am grateful to be part of it.

I then see my little friends - the deer - pawing at the frozen earth, looking for that fresh green growth that seems to not be coming. For their sake and for the sake of my tan . . . I love you Winter, but isn't it time to let Spring have it's turn?