April Showers, Blizzards, and Flowers

It is obviously Springtime in the Rockies! Colorado had another major blizzard on Tuesday. We lucked out and only had heavy rain and high winds in our area, but only 60 miles to the northeast a lot of people are still without electricity which provides heat, cooking, light, entertainment and even, in a few cases, medical equipment such as an oxygen concentrator for a tiny baby just home from the hospital where she had heart surgery. The combination of strong wind and heavy, wet snow knocked down miles and miles of electric poles and the linemen are

working so hard to replace them, but it takes time. The Red Cross and other emergency agencies are helping the people, even delivering hot meals to the residents at a local school.

The night of the blizzard several school buses got stuck in the drifts and over 100 school kids ended up spending the night in schools and homes closest to where the buses got stuck. One woman, who must have a propane range, cooked pancakes for 18 kids and put them down for the night until emergency vehicles could make it through to take them home the next morning.

I had a medical appointment in Pueblo that day and it felt like it must feel driving under the sea, with the drenching rain and wind gusts. Luckily, Joe had to go to Pueblo for business reasons and was able to drive me. I don't know if I could have handled the car, lurching back and forth in the

wind, with my arthritic hands.

The other extreme of Springtime in the Rockies is that by yesterday the temperature was up in the 70s and tomorrow will be in the 80s and the leaves and flowers are beginning to burst forth.

I had to go out with my little digital camera and document this Spring. Hope you enjoy the tulips, daffodils, hyacinths, periwinkles, and bleeding hearts, I sure do! If you click on the purple hyacinth photo you can see the honey bee that was also enjoying the flowers.