Life happens...

After 30 years of going to our mountain cabin, we are pretty good at predicting conditions there. But we were WAY off when we went up last week! At this time of year, there can be 3 or more feet of snow, or the melting can have begun, starting a month or so of 'mud season.' We have seen the lake still frozen over on Memorial Day, though that is not common. When we went the last time, there was waist-high snow on the ground, and there were ice-fishers in the middle of the frozen lake. While it had been warm and very dry down here in the valley (a record breaking dry March) we still expected there to be some snow on the mountain. We went up with long-johns, snow boots and our snowshoes.

We got up there to find NO snow (except small patches in the shade), and NO MUD!!!! The lake is completely thawed and the ground was as dry as July. The snow must have melted so fast that it evaporated, rather that soaking into the ground.

 

 

I spent a great deal of my time there using the back of the pick-up as a covered porch, sitting in the warm almost 70 degree sun, trying to not get sunburned, reading and knitting. Booker tried to catch chipmunks, unsuccessfully (fortunately.) And I kept an eye out for our bear, who has clearly come out of hibernation to tear more bark from our aspen trees.

I am trying to figure out how to get evening and night photos, so took the photo of the cabin at dusk. I need to do a bit more research and practice!

The day after we came back home, my father suffered from a stroke. So I will be going back to California next week for a bit to see if I can help out some as he recuperates. The garden will wait. The tapestry will wait. Life's seasons and rhythms are not always predictable. There is not always snow when we expect it; there is not always a mud season. Our days and our activities are not always regulated by our orderly To Do lists. The good and the bad (and the scary) things happen with and without our permission. It is a lovely thing to have moments to sit and let our toes soak up the sun when we don't expect it; to have moments to store up some energy to be used when it is needed.