April Snow Brings May Flowers

By yesterday afternoon, the 4-6" of fresh snow was melting in the April sun. Tiny plants were poking through the meadow's snow. I cannot remember the name of this plant but I do know that it's a neat case of mutualism - the yellow is not pollen or blossoms but is a fungus that lives on the leaves of the plant and attracts pollinators to the plant.

The snow was also melting from the aspen branches and buds.

So, yesterday, within hours of waking up to a snowy world, it felt like spring again.

Then, the world turned wintery again by this morning. The promised snowstorm, that is supposed to stay around through Thursday, had arrived. Shyla sat in a "stay" while I readied my snowbike.

It was snowing so hard that our tracks filled in as fast as we made them.

Shyla's enthusiasm was contagious even though it was very hard to get any action photos of her in the near-whiteout conditions.

The storm is turning out to be bigger than predicted because it has stalled over top of us. It has snowed hard all day long, with at least a foot and probably more, covering our world. Perhaps you can see the snow-covered world (and me) reflected in Shyla's eye.

At the end of our snowbike ride, I could barely pedal anymore because the snow had grown so deep. Yet, Shyla looked very sad that we were heading indoors. Her eyes seemed to say "Do we really have to go inside? Can't we play more?"!

We are snuggled next to a fire but it's almost time for our evening snowshoe hike, all four of us together. Shyla and R are happy about that!

Last year, our wildflowers were anemic, primarily due to a lack of spring snow. So, as I watch the snow hurtling out of the sky, I think of our meadow filled with flowers, nourished by the moisture in this snow. Let it snow!