Bright Ideas

That’s right, it happened again; snow, wind and hazardous driving conditions postponed the medical appointment to deal with my trygeminal nerve pain in the lower right jaw. That happened in January, February, but we mistakenly thought April would be safe. We should have remembered the year Katie tried to come home from Billings on spring break; we followed her all the way from Miles City to be sure she made it safely.

Driving conditions were questionable in Ekalaka, on April 5, but got worse the farther west you went. We were expecting four inches of snow; Billings was expecting 10. No, a two wheel drive, long van, (more like a bus) doesn’t travel safely in those conditions. Katie was going with us, and like in January and February, she appeared at our door before we were planning to leave, reporting on conditions from Billings to Miles City. We rescheduled for May 11. Will Spring be here by then?

I remember a year, the last day of high school my freshman or sophomore year, 1965 or ‘66. I wanted to wear a sleeveless dress. My dad called that, “rushing the season.” He was right, as I shivered in the cold. That was in central Missouri; imagine what it would be in Montana!

My mom always planted a potato for luck on St. Patrick’s Day. We’d have to shovel snow and break through frozen soil to accomplish that. Who does that? Not even the Irish! I can’t remember when she planted potatoes; certainly before we do in Montana. We don’t get much in the garden before June 1.

Maybe this year we will, if the weather cooperates. The fence keeps deer out, thanks to Jamie Walker, Deputy Sheriff in Carter County. Maybe he could use his position to convince Mother Nature to give us a break this year.