FIRST WEEK OF SPRING

Spring has arrived and snow is forecast for tomorrow night. I'm in two minds about whether I want it to snow or not. (Yep, I know, it's not actually up to me.)

 We've gone all winter with no more than a skiff on the surrounding hills and I feel a tad ripped off. I like the way snow makes the world fresh and new under its thick white blanket. The air is crisp. There is a strange silence, punctuated by children laughing as they build snowmen. I even like the puddles of greyish brown water the children deposit just inside the door. Outside it smells fresh with that particular 'snowy' smell. Inside it's woodsmoke, soup and the cheesy aroma of mousetraps.

We can get overly romantic about something we haven't experienced for awhile. We forget the cold numb fingers, the dirty sodden mess of lawn after the thaw, and the broken bones or crumpled fenders. There are plenty of people who are pleased about our mild winter.

I've had my own experiences of winter this year. I haven't physically experienced it, but I've written about it. The big snow of 1886/7, in Wyoming. It came to be called 'The Big Die Up'. Snow drifts so high it buried homesteads, freezing the occupants. Cattle blown into fences or blind canyons, piled high and dying. Freezing blizzards that lasted days. Four to five months of white out. A terrible natural disaster that affected many mid-western states.

So, whether it snows or not, I'll be thankful I've never experienced more than five inches of snow and grateful I live in a time of electricity, heat pumps, and telecommunications.