THE SNOW EATER

Snow-pack generally lingers long in our valley, melting several weeks or more after surrounding regions have lost their snow cover. At such times my neighbors, up and over the hill in both directions, are often astonished to drive over the rim of the valley from their own green lawns and see the snow so well preserved in my domain.
This week, Nature was a bit more even-handed... We all went to bed, hill and valley dwellers alike, with snow still thickly blanketing the ground; we awoke to find it GONE!
Like the Eskimos' "Chinook" I had read about as a child, the "Snow Eater" winds had tiptoed up from warmer regions to swallow the snow and carry it off to who-knows- where. This unexpected day brought record-breaking warmth as gentle as late springtime. The night was balmy too--star-splashed even at 1 a.m. when the dog insisted I let him outside.
I opened the door and was struck by air so soft I couldn't resist walking outside with my dog. Barefoot and clad in thin night clothes, I willingly lingered in weather I knew would be temporary.
In the morning I woke to howling winds and low-pressure temperature changes ushering in a cold and nasty Arctic Express from the north. Ah... weren't we glad, my dog and I, that we'd tasted some false spring in the night before the storms arrived?
Good day to you all, whatever your weather, from R.A.T. (Rose About Town) and her canine pal, Jack.