Lacey Middlestead is a Montana native and freelance writer currently living in Helena, Mont. She loves meeting new people and helping share their stories. When she’s not busy writing articles for newspapers like the Independent Record and Helena Vigilante, she can usually be found indulging in her second greatest passion–playing in the Montana wilderness. She loves skiing and snowmobiling in the winter and four wheeling, hiking, boating, and riding dirt bikes in the summer.
With the temperatures creeping upwards and hovering at a gentle 50 degrees and only a mere dusting of white left on the tippy tops of the mountains, it seems hard to deny that Mr. Punxsutawney was indeed correct this year in predicting an early spring.
But it’s not quite spring yet.
Right now we are in the limbo phase between the chill of winter and the vibrant blooms of spring. It tends to be one of the most frustrating times of the year for me. While part of me longs to dawn bare feet all day again in my flip flops and drive with the windows down, I also secretly wish for another few runs down the ski hill or to make another attempt at learning to sidehill on my sled. Unfortunately, the current state of the weather prevents me from doing much of any of the above. There’s hardly enough snow left to play in but it’s still not warm enough to embrace the idea of many springy activities either.
Early spring is an interesting time for everyone, it seems. Most days when I’m driving around town, I usually spot the eternal optimist driving around with his snowmobile in the bed of his truck or pulling a freshly washed enclosed trailer. There are also the overly anxious ones headed for the mountains with their dirt bikes or mountain bikes tied down in their vehicles. Because lingering snow be damned…..they’re going riding!
Whether you love it or hate it though, spring is definitely a busy time of year for everyone. For us motorized toys lovers, spring is the time to change fluids and use a little elbow grease to polish everything up for the first ride. After all, when that first perfect spring day finally hits, you don’t want to waste a minute of it on logistics. For homeowners, it’s a time for busting out the yard tools and priming your yard to become a lush green haven in the months to come. Many of us start looking ahead to adventurous summer plans and begin booking camp sites at state parks. Ultimately, we just try to busy ourselves in some sort of way while we wait for winter to finally retreat and the full effects of spring and summer to descend.
Spring is a hopeful and opportunistic time that gently ushers us from one season to the next…..one phase in life to the next. This year, spring is especially hopeful for me as my husband and I will soon be moving into our first home together. So as sad as I am for the early disappearance of snow, I’m anxiously awaiting all the new joys that spring will bring with it.
Wildlife advocates and environmentalists say a proposal to lift protections for Yellowstone-area grizzly bears is premature.