Mountains in May

I wanted to share the musings going through my head on my walk today, the 4th day of May. On the first day of May in these west central mountains of NM I was a bit sluggish after having gotten home late the night before from a conference in Albq 150 miles away so I didn't walk until the afternoon. It was a coolish day with clouds and snow in the forecast for the morrow. I went on my usual 3.5 mile route in my "subdivision" you have to take that pretty loosely compared to city type subdivisions but those of you that know where I live know what I mean...dirt roads and hills to climb in every direction. So, there I was on the high road when I came upon the same snake I saw a week or so ago and he was none too happy. The snow flakes had just started falling- only flurries mind you but the snake thought that winter was over and he was pissed! I left him alone this time...I had given him a couple of pets on our last encounter but I didn't think he would appreciate human interference at that time. It snowed on me again a couple times but not too worry it was really okay weather for a brisk walk. Got home and we started a fire and watched our weekly movie and all was ducky! Next day, the 2nd of May...it was really supposed to snow so I waited on a walk to let the temps warm up and the snow to do its thing. I made homemade macaroni and cheese...the kind you bake in the oven and drool over. It was gluten free of course and quite yummy. I also made David his black walnut cookies, cleaned up a bit and watched the snow off and on all morning. About 2:30 it looked a little dark out there but nothing was falling from the sky so I bundled up good as the thermometer showed 36 lovely degrees out there. Just as soon as I stepped out the door flakes started to fall. By the time I got to the end of the driveway the flakes were starting to cover the ground...and cover...and cover. I made it down to the end of the road (1/3mile) and said to no one in particular except my faithful mutt Roly that I was an idiot and was turning around. I had to hold both gloved hands up to my face to try to ward off the stinging snow pellets that were accosting me and I was completely covered in the white stuff so much that I looked like a human snowman. None too happy I made it back home without frostbite even though it was now 29 degrees. I changed into warm/dry clothes and made myself a cup of hot cocoa and sat looking out the window from which I could see nothing but white. Still grumpy I whined to my Facebook friends about the weather here and got zero sympathy! We went to bed that evening with the snow still coming down in bursts with a grand accumulation of only a couple of inches. So, that brings me to day 3...Monday, May 3rd. I had a lunch date as a belated birthday present with friends and neighbors so I decided to take my walk early and to do an extra bit since I had got ripped-off the day before. With the sun out and the ground covered in snow I set off pretty well bundled. It was beautiful and awesomely quiet as only snow can bring to the world. Roly and I and a few birds were the only people out and my walk was blissful for the most part...as I took such a long walk things (dirt roads in particular) were starting to melt so I got in some resistance training as well by carrying around 2-3 extra pounds per boot of mud. But even the mud didn't ruin my walk...it was simply wonderful. I have the benefit of being able to work from home so after my wonderful lunch out I worked most of the afternoon then worked on my crochet in the evening and life was just good!! Now, for the last day of this incredibly long diatribe. I had a doctor appt in Reserve which is an hour away but a gorgeous drive from here. On the way home I had the sunroof open...did I say sunroof after just yesterday walking through the snow?? Yup, it got into the 70's today. So, after planting my birthday card from big sister (have you ever seen those cards with wildflower seeds embedded?, thanks Jo) I went on my daily walk with shorts and sandels on...can you believe it??? So, anyway, I am walking up a hilly dirt road that no one lives on and here comes a rarity...a car. Census workers looking for some directions...that done I moved on up the hill but as is my unfortunate custom I had to pee...never can make the whole walk without that little task and since I had just seen actual people on my walk I thought I would go off road a little more than usual. So, here I am in the required position for females when I hear this clomp, clomp coming down the road. I looked up and there was a Pronghorn (antelope) loping along the road all by himself. Now this is so rare as I have never seen an antelope this high up...they are plains dwellers so you can just imagine my surprise. I was going to ask Roly about it as he had walked on ahead of me and had probably scared up the poor pronghorn in the first place but he wasn't talking!! After I caught up with him a raven flew over my head startling me and him on his way to the juvenile heard he was hanging with. Ravens are not like crows as they usually mate up when adults but in the teenage years they tend to congregate and we kept scaring them up for the rest of the walk so we got a lot of raven cat-calls, if you will. From the high road you can see a long ways in all directions and the plain is not green but the mountains are and that too is a rarity in the spring. We usually see green only after the summer rains. It was just gorgeous up there except that the bark beetle has infested some of the pines and if you didn't know they were dying it almost looked like fall foliage. Now I am sitting in my new lawn chair that I got last week but couldn't put it out due to our wintry weather...so much can change in a day. Still have on the shorts but the wind is picking up and I am about to head inside. David planted one row of corn and one of beans today as a test run. The month of May can hold many surprises up here in these mountains and no one can say this beautiful day in the 70's can hold out. I do hope we are done with the snow for this spring though....

I have to work the next 2 days and no telling what adventures I will have on my walks again starting on Friday...hope they are as fun as the first 4 days of May!!