The Last Blizzard

Let the celebrating commence!

On Friday and Saturday of this weekend we experienced a particularly heinous blizzard here in the town in which I live on the Great Plains of Turtle Island. It was the fourth (and most severe) snowstorm we’ve had so far in April. And surely the last. Surely. But I’m not complaining. Really, I’m not.

This Sunday morning everything is covered with snow. But the sun is finally out and the melting has begun. At the height of the blizzard we experienced 60 to 70 mile per hour winds so it’s impossible to tell just how much snow we got. There are patches of ground where there is only about an inch of snow but there are also snow drifts that are two feet high. This morning, though, it is perfectly still without so much as a breeze.

I have proclaimed this week (April 15–21) as a week of intense celebration. The pinnacle of celebration will fall on Wednesday. I am off from work that day and by then it’s supposed to be sunny and warm. I will be dedicating that day completely to celebrating.

One of my plans for that day includes a walk out to The Ponds. There is a large park on the southern edge of town that has four large ponds (they are not quite big enough to be called lakes). The place is teeming with wildlife — especially in spring and fall. That park has been my nature refuge for the seven…