Springing forward on Saturday Slight

I'll be springing along at a pretty good clip today. After all, we're losing an hour tonight, so I've got to make up for lost time. But then again, we gained a day, so we're still 23 hours ahead of the game.

Guess I'll settle down, relax and just enjoy the slight detour ride this morning. Bill's down reading the newspapers. He picked up a Nickel's Worth this week so we can research possible contractors to replace our storage shed. I have a feeling those folks have loved this winter cuz it means lots of work in the spring and summer.

The people who have really benefitted, however, are the mailbox builders. This may be pretty unscientific, but I'd hazard a guess that at least 50 percent of the mailboxes in Bonner County will need to be replaced or pounded back into shape. Bill's been encouraging me to do a photo essay, showing the widespread postal carnage.

With gas prices the way they are right now, though, the stop-and-go of taking all those pictures could put a dent in the gas bill, so I'll just report that it was not a good winter for mailboxes. If there's someone out there who wants to go into the mailbox business, now's the time to get the advertising out.

Once this snow is gone for good, people are gonna move forward on getting those boxes up and ready for the next siege of weekend late nights in spring and summer when unknown culprits go racing down our dirt roads armed with baseball bats aimed at mailboxes. I have one neighbor who's ahead of the game on that. He brings his mailbox back to the house as soon as the carrier makes deliveries and returns it to the road each morning for the next delivery.

With the snow receding inch by inch, more carnage is starting to make its unfortunate appearances, and there's a sad feeling to go along with the sight of moose, deer, dogs and cats who were not so fortunate near the railroad tracks and along the roadsides. Mother Nature knew no prejudice when she let loose in North Idaho this year.

It's hard to believe that we're having the time change with this much snow still on the ground. Bill told me a story last night about a man who teaches in Oregon. He has purchased seedling trees to plant on his property here in North Idaho and just called yesterday wondering if he'll be able to do so during his spring vacation in late March. Bill had to give him the bad news that it's highly unlikely that he could even get to the property, let alone plant trees.

So, the saga goes on. We waits and waits and waits. And, since we waits and waits and waits, there's hardly a reason to spring forward too fast. For some reason, Mother Nature has decided not to cooperate with our man-made schedules, and we all know there's no fooling with Mother Nature.

So, happy Saturday wherever you are, and if the sun is shining and the grass is growing, please don't take it for granted.