Throughout this past week we have seen winter clinging to her hold on this corner of the world. An unusual wind -- from the north -- dropped temperatures Sunday evening and brought with it blowing and drifting snow. Yesterday the guy who cleans our driveway made a pass with his tractor to move a few drifts. Actually, the drive wasn't bad, but the northerly wind piled a drift under our deck, and therefore in front of our garage doors, nearly four feet high. The warmth of the sun, however, made it heavy and wet to move.
We are not the only ones marveling at winter's grip. The returning robins and killdeer seem a wee bit dazed. After a summer-like day within the past two weeks, the cold and snow gives them the appearance of having either flown off course or gone too far north!
The flock of turkeys we'd seen earlier in the season in a field north of our house reappeared late yesterday afternoon. We hadn't spotted them in weeks.
On Sunday evening, as the snow was falling quite heavily, a movement caught my eye in the back yard. An unusual sighting, to say the least, for us. A pair of sandhill cranes flew in low and landed just on the other side of the barbed wire fence at the back of our lot. We are fairly certain this is the pair we saw in a field down the hill earlier in the day.
Despite the snow and cold, the clues about spring's impending arrival can be seen. The male sandhill crane was 'dancing' for his lady, the male gobblers are occasionally spotted fanning and their heads are bright red. In town yesterday, we saw tulips beginning to peek through a flowerbed.
From another perspective, however, the ski hills around us have been given a last breath of business with new snows. Once we put the skis away -- during the really warm spell -- my mind moved on -- but my favorite ski spot (Pommerelle, near Albion, ID) got 18" of fresh snow Sunday night. Like the birds, I was a bit confused about why my winter sports parphrenalia was stored and I'd dusted off my tennis shoes.
Patience will be rewarded eventually with spring. I hope my back can hold out from snow shoveling until then!
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