Winter Finally Finds Montana

Posted on | December 21, 2004 |

Winter has been quite sluggish in finding Montana. In November when it was nearly nice enough to play tennis and most of this month so far when it was reminiscent of spring, I was perfectly okay with it. But as Christmas approacheth and heavy sweaters I want to wear lay dormant in my closet, I begin to long for winter. I long for a bit of winter where it is between 0 and 20 degrees, and I must bundle up against the crisp air.

Just as the brown, ugly, exposed grass was getting to me, the temperature dipped and we were showered with a smattering of snow. It was barely enough to accumulate a skiff on the sidewalks and grass, but I’ll take what I can get.

You all might think I’m crazy inviting winter. However, not having winter tends to cause a lot of problems. We have a lot of forests here in western Montana. In the summer the price is paid when dry forests spark up. Kayakers all around are angry because rivers are too shallow to float on. Deer and other similar wildlife move to road ditches to find food and in the process generate an all too easy game of “road hunting.”

And on top of all this, my awesome down jacket has not seen enough action this winter.

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