“Warm sunny days, endless skies of blue, then without a warning another winter storm comes raging through” is a line in the song Springtime in Alberta by Ian Tyson. It’s a common phenomena throughout the Rockies. The native plants and animals are adapted to these quick changes. The grass is turning green: Just in time to provide a much needed boost in energy to grazers of all kinds.

The sap is rising and the tree buds are swelling.

But in a flash, it feels like winter again.

These old timers have witnessed this cycle for more years than I have. I think about the man who drove this truck through spring snow storms when he was working the land.

The old timer who built this smokehouse a hundred years ago walked this same path and watched the snow fall just like I am this morning.

I wonder if they told themselves what I tell myself. “This storm will  pass and the skies will be blue again. I am thankful. Come August I’ll be wistfully remembering these spring storms that brought us life giving moisture. ”

*from When It’s Springtime in the Rockies by Sons of the Pioneers