"When winter comes, can spring be far behind?"

First posted May 23, 2010

That rhetorical question from Percy Bysshe Shelley's "Ode to the West Wind" has been
oft asked in Reno, Nevada this year. Here we are just a few weeks away from the
official start of summer and last night the temperature dipped down to 31 degrees Fahrenheit.
I doubt if we go over 50 degrees today. The sun is absent and ominous clouds hang over
our skies. Snow fell over the Lake Tahoe basin and many of the Sierra Nevada peaks.

" Cover your plants and gardens", the weatherman impishly adviced last night.

Too late. Tomato plants have frozen as have some sturdy rose bushes.

The Truckee River along that stretch between Arlington and Lake Avenues
is bereft of their usual rafters, fishermen and frollicking youth who love to
jump into the water. And whoever is "walking" thru the park by the river is
usually bundled up and thankful for the bars along the way where rum and
vodka are generously dispensed. Even the lattes are selling well.
Churro and roasted chesnut vendors would surely complete this winter scene.

And cold blows the wind down this valley...and surely summer will usher in
a welcome warmth...yet, alas, we have lost our spring.