By Alkali Springs Correspondent
March is a month of change and that is good. Yes, it is true that we still need more moisture out in the beautiful Bear Paws and on the prairie as well, but this last batch of cold and winter like weather seems like it has lasted on and on and on.
For the first time since we have been in a cabin on Beaver Creek, we have the same snow in our front yard that was there in November and December. That is normal for places like Glasgow and Plentywood, but it is strange for here, given the chinooks we usually have.
Not only that, but we get good snowfalls and the next day whole hillsides are brown again and not due to winds either.
But the worst is that it just seems like colder type weather, gray days, and light snows just hang on and hang on and hang on.
That is why we rejoice March and we can see some different type of weather.
In the Bear Paws March is the month of winds. We don't know why, but during the periods when autumn is turning into winter and winter is turning into spring, the wind blows with a vengeance that is not seen many other times during the year.
We will never forget old timers on Clear Creek telling us that March was when they stayed overnight twice in an old log cabin. Their bedroom on the second floor was close to the roof, and both times they were sure that the roof was going to be ripped right off during the night. That is March.
And whatever the weather, there is just a tad and hint of spring in nature's signs. For instance, it is apparent to most everyone that these days the daylight hours are stretching really well. Not only that, but even the weather folks are saying that if we get a bout of cold weather this time of year, that cold will not linger like it can in December, January or February.
Then too, we notice that we are getting just a tad more variety of birds than we saw a few weeks ago and one fellow in Havre has already spotted his first robin of the season.
So we feel good that we are seeing a change in seasons. This last one has been so long this year.
And what about that moisture we need so badly? Statewide, folks are saying that we are only 55 percent of normal.
Well, let's not jump the depression gun just yet. For in this part of the country, a lot of moisture comes in the form of rain in May and as a rule there is always that traditional Easter or Memorial Day blizzard that dumps three feet on the level and that, gentle readers, really makes the year.
It is always good to have those huge winter drifts in the beautiful Bear Paws. They are what start the springs in the spring. But those huge and impossible and radical storms - they are what fill the lakes and keep creeks running well into fall.
Meantime, until it warms up, toss another log on the fire, enjoy the XFL and know that spring just might be right around the corner!
