Snow and mud and spring and bear shit

OK, I’m going to say what no mountain dweller is supposed to say: I’m sick of snow.

The days are warmer, reaching almost to the 60s. The nights aren’t as cold … only just below freezing. As the sun climbs northward it begins to melt the feet of snow and the dirt begins to peak through. Before it becomes real dirt, clean dirt, with the warm smell of summer the snow has to go away. Right now it’s just mud, red clay with a tinge of yellow from the minerals indigenous to Colorado.

If mud was money, I’d be rich.

The last snow left about 14 inches of snow which I thought would melt rather quickly. The plow guy called; I deferred. But the wisdom in plowing is that the dirt dries out faster. It also might have prevented a rather unfortunate instance of the front end of my car nearly sliding off the muddy/snow driveway, right there at the steep part. The part should you go over the side no one would see your car, wedged against a tree, ass-end up.

I now know understand the term, “sucking mud.”

Puddles have formed around the wood shed, the Jeep is buried in deep, wet snow and a my wheelbarrow is frozen to the ground. I’d pay real money for blacktop right about now because I need hip-waders to get to my car.

The back yard is still deep in snow and access to the shed requires a path cut by a seasoned sherpa.

As the surest signs of spring emerge, the most telling is that on a local website, Pinecam, someone has posted pictures of bear shit.

It must be spring.