To participate in and hopefully honor National Poetry Month, Ring Around the Basin will post only poems in April. Some have not yet been offered here, but some come from the Archives, too.
We get those, too. Dreams of early tomatoes ruthlessly killed. After so many disappointing mornings of looking out the window on an April morning and seeing endless white hell where the day before elk were happily over grazing my lawn, I should know by now, but alas, spring hopes eternal .
I read years ago in the Reno Gazette that we shouldn't plant tomatoes until all the snow is off the Peavine, but that's treachery. Snow melts. Promise is evident. Then it snows. And the wind today is probably the usual Cat 1 afternoon zephyr.
I'm curious, where in the Basin do you live? I know you're on the PCT now, right? But where's home?
We live on the South Fork of the Payette River, a tributary of the Snake River and originates on the western side of the Sawtooth Mountains. I’m not sure if Lake Bonneville had backwater up into our valley, but it certainly has always been affected by the Basin weather.
Over on the Idaho Wyoming border near Little America, a place not known for its balmy weather, is Fossil Butte, a national monument where ferns, alligator and other more tropical species left behind fossil remains. I don’t think many alligators still survive in Idaho.
Minden, NV on the banana belt corner of Carson Valley, just south of Carson City and Reno. It's also just down the hill from Lake Tahoe and every now and then we get tourists from there wandering into town. You're not too far from Weiser, are you? I knew an avid skier who used to work there and then moseyed down to Tahoe.
Weiser involves a big loop either south and west through Boise and across to Weiser or a big loop north then southwest to Weiser. We’re a long way from everywhere.
"...As we were slackers, Totally devoid of work ethic." "...Everyone Was in a good mood because We could all take our sweet time..." "The freshly-scrubbed air, The muffled hush over the streets, The hiss of tires through slush..." Just lovely Sue - and a perfect photo as well. You had me walking down that street with you, ducking into the coffee shop to take as much advantage of the event as possible.
We get those, too. Dreams of early tomatoes ruthlessly killed. After so many disappointing mornings of looking out the window on an April morning and seeing endless white hell where the day before elk were happily over grazing my lawn, I should know by now, but alas, spring hopes eternal .
I read years ago in the Reno Gazette that we shouldn't plant tomatoes until all the snow is off the Peavine, but that's treachery. Snow melts. Promise is evident. Then it snows. And the wind today is probably the usual Cat 1 afternoon zephyr.
I'm curious, where in the Basin do you live? I know you're on the PCT now, right? But where's home?
We live on the South Fork of the Payette River, a tributary of the Snake River and originates on the western side of the Sawtooth Mountains. I’m not sure if Lake Bonneville had backwater up into our valley, but it certainly has always been affected by the Basin weather.
Over on the Idaho Wyoming border near Little America, a place not known for its balmy weather, is Fossil Butte, a national monument where ferns, alligator and other more tropical species left behind fossil remains. I don’t think many alligators still survive in Idaho.
Just looked that up on google. So it's good to get an idea where my Substack friends are.
Where in this awesome space is home for you?
Minden, NV on the banana belt corner of Carson Valley, just south of Carson City and Reno. It's also just down the hill from Lake Tahoe and every now and then we get tourists from there wandering into town. You're not too far from Weiser, are you? I knew an avid skier who used to work there and then moseyed down to Tahoe.
Weiser involves a big loop either south and west through Boise and across to Weiser or a big loop north then southwest to Weiser. We’re a long way from everywhere.
We don’t plant until after all the snow is off Charters Mountain, because that’s when Mrs. W. planted her garden every year for the past 50 years.
"...As we were slackers, Totally devoid of work ethic." "...Everyone Was in a good mood because We could all take our sweet time..." "The freshly-scrubbed air, The muffled hush over the streets, The hiss of tires through slush..." Just lovely Sue - and a perfect photo as well. You had me walking down that street with you, ducking into the coffee shop to take as much advantage of the event as possible.
I know, right? Nobody really wants to work in a dungeon.