Today was one of those days for stopping during the chores, putting a piece of long grass in your teeth, and just taking a look around at all that’s around you. Blue sky, white fluffy clouds, grass growing so green and fast you can almost hear it, and it seems as if we have a new returning bird every day or so now. One of the things I love so much about southwestern Idaho is the way the four seasons stretch out and take their time about it. Yes, winter can be cold a long time, and in a few months I’ll be “mentioning” the unbroken string of 100+ deree days. But spring and fall make it all worthwhile. The pink trees last for weeks. It seems the bulbs last for over a month.
The swallows started showing up last week. I haven’t seen any tanagers yet, or nighthawks. But I saw my first hummer this afternoon, a nice rufous. It had gotten into the greenhouse and I saw it when I went over to visit my sweetie. I notice there’s still a lot of snow on Shaffer Butte (the mountain that Boise sits beneath)… in fact, there seems to be a lot of snow across the whole ridge, not just on the Butte. The old-timers, like my wife’s grandpa and dad, used to say not to put out any tender plants until the snow was off. But it just seems like we oughta be planting now. The tomatoes and beans and pepper plants are get bigger every day. I have to remember that here in the valley we can plant a week after Mother’s Day and still have plenty of summer for everything to grow. But all the little plants in the greenhouse look ready to go. We might gamble on a few this next weekend and set them out early. Just a few though. Those guys knew their stuff, and made their living growing here. Best to listen to them.
It oughta be a good water year too. Snow is still up there this late, and the days haven’t been terribly hot, so it isn’t melting off too fast. The snowpack has 10% or more extra water in it than normal. That’s good. Last year they shut down the irrigation at least two weeks early… not a happy thing for a lot of farmers. Should be a good year for gamebirds too. I’m noticing a lot of doves this spring. Squirrels too, but that’s a different story. I can’t say that I wish I were a farmer, but I’m lucky to live in a place like this, and able to pay attention to these things and dabble a little bit.
Spring and fall, my favorite times of the year. We are so very blessed. Thank you Lord.
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