MOTHER NATURE'S TRICKERY

Last week, I told you that Spring had arrived. Little did I know that Mother Nature would make me into a liar--at least in our part of the country.

Here in our part of Arizona, the Winter Season had brought only a few snowflakes and almost no rain. In fact, this Winter has been the driest on record for the past 100 years.

Then came April Fool's Day and with it Mother Nature's trickery. Snowflakes fell from the sky in spurts and fits all day long, finally changing to rain by nightfall.

The next morning, we were awakened by the deafening silence of snowflakes hitting the roof, and looked out onto a Winter Wonderland. The trees were decked out in Winter finery and the ground was dressed in an overcoat of white. It had snowed, apparently most of the night!

To say that we were shocked would be an understatement. You see, at this time of year our temperature should be in the high 70's, not the high 20's or low 30's.

As I turned away from the window, and headed for the kitchen to make a pot of coffee, the power went off--and stayed off. No coffee and no heat, since our heater won't run with no electricity.

It soon got sorta cold in the house, and then got even colder as the power stayed off all day long. Seems that some trees, weighted down with the snow, had fallen on several different power lines and it took a while to repair and replace them.

The mountains near Flagstaff were buried under more than five feet of snow, and Ski Resorts that had closed for lack of snow will reopen this weekend. As I write this, the wind is howling and rain--that may change to snow--is falling in sheets. Another of Mother Nature's late season tricks.

But all in all, in spite of the discomfort, I'm glad to see all the moisture. With the melting of the snow, the moisture will give the earth a soaking and make it ready for planting my garden.

And it is garden planting time, not only here, but across most of the country. At the very least, you should get out and dig up the garden plot and make it ready for the planting.

Grandma always planted a garden, and for a very good reason.

Remember, back in Grandma's day, very few fresh vegetables could be found in the markets. Today, we can find fresh fruits and vegetables all year long in the market but most of it is imported from far, far away. As a result, the taste doesn't come close to fresh picked produce.

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