I have heard people say there is no proper spring in Dubois.
If that’s true, Mother Nature was messing with our heads on this First Official Day of Spring.
The thermometer stood at -8°F when we got up at 7 AM yesterday. By 2:00 in the afternoon, it read 51°F. I took a hike wearing only a windbreaker over my sweater.
A 60-degree swing is noteworthy, even for high-mountain desert: In summer it tends to start somewhere in the 40s and peak only in the mid-70s.
When we got up this morning, the sky was brilliant blue–about the same color as the mountain bluebirds that have begun to flit about behind our house.
The females are soft gray. The males always look to me like tiny pieces of the sky, broken off and soaring about at ground level.
As we left for church, the thermometer read only 22°F. But I was perfectly comfortable as I walked to the car carrying my parka over my arm.
It’s Palm Sunday, the day when parishioners often process around outdoors carrying palms. The minister, who had come over the pass from Jackson to fill in for the day, commented about the mild weather. The high in Jackson yesterday was 28°F (while we were enjoying the fifties). Today it was predicted to surge all the way up to 32.
(I’ve commented before about the false equivalence many people make between Dubois and Jackson. There’s enough snow over there to serve the ski resorts for the rest of the season, I hear. We can see plenty of it on the mountain peaks here as well, but around town it’s totally dry, as you can see.)
We paraded into the sanctuary at a leisurely pace, many of us minus our overcoats. I’m amazed nobody thought to give thanks for the springlike weather during the prayers.
In the afternoon, lacking a plan but determined not to stay indoors, we took a drive up Horse Creek Road just to see what it looks like over there right now. We took the chance to leave the car and explore some cave-like formations. Just the perfect day for spring jackets.
Benny obviously enjoyed spring break too. He seldom rides with his head out the window like that. Can you see his smile?
The forecast calls for snow on Tuesday and Friday, with sunshine on the days between and highs in the low 40s.
Paradise lost? No, just postponed.
© Lois Wingerson, 2016
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It was a fabulous few days… love where I live..