Wilderness Blues- Ramblings from the Great Land

  Today is May 19, my daughter Jennifer's birthday. I won't bother telling you how old she is- those that know her well already know how old she is and for anyone else it doesn't really matter. In any event, it's mid- May. Even in Alaska the weather usually starts to warm up by now, but  not this year. The calendar says it's spring, but nature says its only kinda spring. So far most of the leaves are still being fairly reluctant to make a full appearance, sort of like when you're standing on the side of the swimming pool dipping your foot into the water to see how cold it really is. There are a few herring showing up and the birds are in full swing  doing whatever they do- hopefully eating bugs, but it's still pretty cold. Of course that doesn't keep the dandelions from sprouting. Just about every yard  is displaying a sea of yellow blossoms. It looks like Dandelionville around here - a gardeners nightmare. We've had several cru...

Here it is May 11 already, and I'm still waiting for some sign of spring. As you can see from the pictures of the trees, the leaves haven't arrived yet. Maybe they're on vacation someplace warmer. The snow is still pretty far down the mountain yet too. I try to placate myself by saying that it will provide more water if this is a dry summer. The only thing that even remotely gives the appearance of spring are the dandelions that are sprouting up. Oh joy! They're about as welcome as a fart at a debutante ball. They're tenatious little plants. They probably wait under the snow all winter for the sun to come out so they can pop out of the ground like a Jack-in the Box and yell "Surprize!" I was up early this morning like I am most mornings in the spring and summer. The combination of light streaming through the window at four AM  and those obnoxious ravens calling  make it hard to sleep. I usually  don't get out of bed just because I'm up though, but ...