Waiting for Winter

This time the weatherpeople sound serious. A couple of feet of white stuff by the weekend—the most promising outlook for moisture we've had all winter!¹ It was difficult to believe them, though, with temps hovering in the 60s, buds and flowers a'popping, meadowlarks back in town. Still, the clouds yesterday, the small scent of moisture in the air, and a light dusting this a.m. gave hope that, for once, they'd be right.

The whole picture is changing as the morning advances, and it's not even 9 a.m. yet. At last. The flakes are getting bigger, the day's scheduled events are being canceled... I'm glad I filled the birdfeeders last night, and am even having trouble working up enthusiasm for schlepping out to the chickens! But that chore must be done, whether all else is postponed or no.

At this point in the season, I'd have been happier with the liquid rather than crystalline version of H₂O, and I think the plants might have as well...but it's been SO dry, all of us will take any form we can get, and gladly! Bee Lady went out to check on the Mountain Ball Cactus, and reported they were trying to bloom, but the few plants she found were barely succeeding in putting forth a few pale flowers.

Would that I had a few seeds in the ground under this, but I'm not that good a gardener. I did manage to plant some of the cholla I salvaged, but that was all that seemed appropriate for what was shaping up to be one of our drier years (until today). Here's a preview of my new cactus garden; this weather should be good for them!

In all, a good day to stay home and reread The Phantom Tollbooth!²

"Oh no," said the little man, "I'm the Whether Man, not the Weather Man, for after all, it's more important to know whether there will be weather than what the weather will be." And with that, he released a dozen balloons that sailed off into the sky. "Must see which way the wind is blowing," he said...

—Norton Juster, from The Phantom Tollbooth

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¹ Now that it's spring, of course. For a description of Colorado springtime, see Spring Sap Rising.
² Highest recommendation... in fact I should have listed it on the book post! Time to get reacquainted with Milo, Tock the Watch Dog, the Humbug, Officer Shrift (shortest policeman you'll ever meet), Faintly Macabre the Not-so-Wicked Witch, and all the other wonderful characters out there Beyond Expectations.