April 5, 2023

 It is April, right?  I keep telling myself it is spring, but the reality of our outdoors is that all things it is either black or white.  There is no horizon, just white, but I know from my years that there really is a line where the sky stretches above our earth.  Snow, snow and more snow.  This week's forecast claims that this is going to change within just a few days.  I continue to be hopeful.

David and Melanie Law were more than a little surprised when they came up to check on their Mink Creek home. The Laws live in Kaysville, UT, and have had to deal with the onslaught of snow being received along the Wasatch front. They expected to find snow in Idaho, just not quite so much.

The community youth had planned a sledding party to take place on the hills of the Iverson family. The excessive snow caused a cancellation of this event. But that didn’t mean it was forgotten. There are an abundance of slopes in this locality and a couple of weeks later the sledding party happened, in a different spot, but with all the laughter, bumps and bruises that go along with this winter activity.

The Young Men and Young Women organizations combined for a Sunday fireside at the church house to listen to the broadcast featuring Elder Gerrit Gong. They indulged in a pancake supper with multiple toppings of choice prior to the broadcast.

Dual birthdays were celebrated by the McKay and Erickson families since Karen Erickson and daughter Terrie McKay share the same birthdate. All of the Erickson children: Bryan and Shannon Erickson of Wellsville, UT, Terrie and Paul McKay of Mink Creek, Julie and Todd Kunz of Idaho Falls, and Connie and Adam Westenskow of Logan—gathered at Maddox Restaurant in Brigham City, along with some of the grand children – to do the birthday thing and add some extra joy with Karen’s recent recovery from a hospital stay, due to breaking both arms.

We have no evidence of green growth poking up through the many inches of snow to indicate the arrival of spring. However, some of our winged friends have arrived. The long-legged sandhill cranes look a little out of place as they attempt to stride over the snow. The chickadees are busy seeking a cleared spot that might offer some bit of old growth or seed. Our eagles haven’t left and continue to keep a watchful eye up and down the length of our valley. It all provides encouragement that the season is only delayed, not canceled.