Springtime in Malheur Country

This spring weather has been rather cool here this year. It reminds me of the spring of 1969 when we moved into our new (to us) home. It was cool and rainy right up to the Fourth of July. Poor Jean, the oil furnace in the house didn't work and she couldn't get a fire going in the fireplace. I was off to the University of Oregon working on my Master's Degree while she stayed home with the kids. She called me one day and asked if it would work if she put gasoline on the wood in the fireplace to get it started. I told her not to do that and came home the next weekend to see if I could get the fireplace to work. It only needed some dry wood and the damper open and it worked fine. Of course, the weather turned hot and she didn't need the fireplace. This year isn't quite as cold as that year, and of course, we have a gas furnace and a well insulated house so we don't have any worries about the cool weather.

At least this spring the wind blew so hard that all the Elm seeds came off the trees in one day and blew away. There are little snow drifts of Elm seeds against the fences and buildings. Generally we have those pesky little seeds blowing around for weeks.