If you follow me on Facebook or have liked the Tails Around the Ranch Facebook page, you no doubt have seen all the kvetching I’ve done about the Spring storm that blew through Denver over the weekend. Denver is officially considered a high mountain desert and when I say we need the moisture, I mean it (even in an El Niño year that has hardly delivered its promise of above normal precipitation). With apologies to those who’ve seen my multiple posts complaining of winter this past week…let me just say you guys can go should you so desire (but truth be told we’d really love it for you to stay a while 😉 ). For the rest of you, here’s my latest rant take on Mother Nature’s cruel hoax where Spring is concerned.

This past week was chilly, grey and VERY windy (for a couple of days we thought we were back on I-80). I can deal with the chilly temps, even the occasional dreary day but an entire week is highly unusual (remember we have over 300+ days of sunshine in the Mile High) especially when they follow several days of 70+ degree days that I was getting used to, it can be a real shocker to the system. And then there’s the fact that I absolutely loathe windy conditions and complain like a one-legged pirate walking a gang plank.

We were beguiled into thinking Spring was going to arrive on time, perhaps even a bit early (recall that the Groundhog said Spring would arrive sooner rather than having 6 more weeks of Winter). I’m never trusting that lying rat rodent again. It was wonderful being able to garden in shirtsleeves and not have to dress like a bundled up Eskimo out on the ice flow. But Mother Nature has a wicked sense of humor in Colorado. Just when you come to expect moderate temperatures, she throws you a curve ball with a whole lot of icy spit on the side. The low yesterday morning was 16. That’s right, ONE-SIX-freezing-my-tush-off degrees! Are you kidding me??!!

From smiling yellow daffodils to snow-covered crocuses, extremes like this are the norm and not the exception in Colorado. Sigh.

Luckily, bulbs are fairly resilient around here, even if the about-to-bloom flowering trees are not quite as forgiving. No doubt there will be a number of flowering plums that simply will refuse to flower this year just to spite you, Mother Nature.

 

 

 

 

Chalk it up to just another ‘Springtime in the Rockies” red herring from Mother Nature’s arsenal of dirty, rotten tricks. ‘Snowball bushes’ in a Colorado Springtime landscape look more like this (bare shrubs with real snowballs) than the lovely version below.

Below is a photo from yesterday morning showing how bizarre landscapes can be in Denver…even on the same block. See the leafed out globe willow tree on the left side? Notice across the street on the right side where there’s still snow covering the front yards? Yeah, that’s how we roll around here at a mile above sea level. 

Here’s hoping your first weekend of Spring was a good one. Is the weather as crazy in your neck of the woods as it is in ours?

Live, love, bark! <3