False Spring and Real Suck

Last month old Blackdog had occasion to spend a few days in Portland and the area around Salem. The weather was generally sucky (it poured rain almost the whole time) but it was SPRING over there. The grass was green, the trees and bushes were putting forth buds, the daffodils and crocuses (croci?) were blooming. It sucked big-time to come back to Bend and know we still had three and a half months of winter to endure.

Bend typically experiences a false spring in late January or February, and this year the false spring was springier than usual; we enjoyed a succession of sunny days with temperatures pushing up toward 60. Predictably, the newbies mistook the phony spring for the real thing and started planting primroses and violas. We old-timers know better: In Bend you don't put your tender annuals out until Memorial Day weekend -- and even then you'd better check the weather forecast every day and be prepared to cover the plants if frost threatens.

In March, the weather in Bend promptly returned to its normal suckerrific mode. As I wrote this yesterday it was 38 degrees and snowing lightly. Overnight, the temperature went down into the teens.

Today Mrs. Blackdog made a trip to Salem on business. She just phoned to tell me the cherry trees are in bloom over there. Damn.