By HDN Staff
Howdy Beaver Reports
The Havre Daily News
Thursday, may 6
Another beautiful week has passed us by in the beautiful Bear Paw Mountains of Montana.
First in the flower department.
The crocuses are all but over except in the high country, the buttercups are still around along with still quite a bunch of roosterheads and yellowbells. What has really blossomed this week in spite of rain, snow and cold, cloudy weather are lots and lots of wild sweet peas. Those bright yellow, sort of large and showey flowers are as beautiful as any and often times we tend to overlook their beauty when compared to other early bloomers. Out at our camp, the mountain that rises above the parking lot is just golden yellow in places with these beautiful flowers and they make a border of highways and rutted roads for a long time that is just beautiful as well.
Before we know it, there will be loads and loads of white June berry blossoms and after that chokecherry blossoms will decorate Bear Paw valleys and hillsides. So far though, days and nights have really been cold enough that things are very slow in getting started this season.
One thing for sure though, and that is that the rains of late along with the snows have really started greening up the mountain. Grass is growing well and water, rather than flowing down the creeks is still for the most part sinking into the ground. Lots of small springs still are not running this spring yet but with all the rain and snow of late, they will before long start to gurgle away too.
Last week we got well over an inch of moisture and this week as we write these words, we again have gotten over an inch of rain on Beaver Creek.
Last week on one day we had to drive to Box Elder, Rocky Boy Agency, and then overland to Cleveland. It was snowing as we left Havre for Box Elder. It was snowing more at Rocky Boy and by the time we traveled to Clear Creek and up Hungry Hollow bound for Cleveland we wondered if we should have even left Havre for snow was starting to stick, accumulate and drift. Finally, we got to Cleveland, and finished our business in record time and started back overland for home. And what a shock we had as we traveled over those roads we had just traveled over a couple of hours earlier. All the snow was melted and it was just muddy and foggy all the way over to the Beaver Creek highway. Where we had been fighting sort of deep snow, there was just mud. And all in a very short time. That really brought home for the millionth time the old adage that in Montana if you dont like the weather, just wait five minutes for it will all change.
About all that seems always right so far this season is that weather reporting is for the birds. Maybe it is because reporting stations are much further away or maybe we are the victims of massive computer glitches but whatever, like MacBeths witches, Nothing is but what is not.
If showers are reported, there is a monsoon. If a heavy rain is predicted, it doesnt even get cloudy. Snow advisories mean not a cloud in the sky either and watch out for nice weather for it has been the worst of all of late.
For two days last week we kept seeing our barometer go down, down and down and all of a sudden deer were out feeding in the middle of the day and yet the weather reports kept saying nice, nice weather far into the future. Well, middle of one night the storm that the barometer and deer had warned us of hit and once again we learned to trust local weather tips to anything weather men say.
But that is one more thing that makes living here that much better. Even in weather, there is always the unexpected or opposite of what is going to do. Maybe thats all right.
