Spring has arrived on the mountain. Wild flowers are beginning to bloom and the slopes are greening up. It is beautiful! But then, if you've been reading my blog regularly, you know that I think every day, every week and every season is beautiful. It was beginning to dry out and Rich and I were starting the landscape process. Then, a spring winter storm arrived on Friday. Let's call it "White Friday" and about 4 inches of snow fell. The wind blew as if trying to blow in a blizzard. About 3 feet fell in the higher elevations and we needed it for the snow melt this summer. It started raining in the evening and on Saturday, even though it was cold, the snow melted and allowed the spring colors to explode again. Apparently, the snow didn't bother them at all. One last note, last Saturday we had a herd of about 25 to 30 elk grazing fairly close to our ridge. We all had binoculars and must have spent a good part of the day observing them. What massive animals.
Now that it is finally warming up, we can start some landscaping. I spent last weekend planting 90 native shrubs and trees that I purchased from the Cascade Conservation District. I am hoping to restore some of the trees that burned in a fire in 1994. This week we are to get into the upper 60's - lower 70's and we need it. The mountains are now full of snow for the summer water tables, so we can move on to summer. My wish anyway. I'm ready for shorts.
