Snowblind

You might want to put on your sunglasses for the first half of this post. I'll give you a minute to retreave them from the car...


...Saturday morning in South Dakota -

The world is suddenly so white, it hurts my eyes to look at it, especially after the light cloud cover cleared. South Dakota is quite literally burried! I think more so than usual. Looking out across the landscape, most of the way, the only distinguishable characteristic is the black smear of pavement, the westbound lanes slipping by through the drifts.

Driving across this white white world, I think back to evenings snuggled next to Mom as she read chapters from The Long Winter by Laura Ingalls Wilder. It's been a long winter even with our conveniences and modern day comforts. Can you imagine living through these winter months in the late 1800's?

Near Murdo, we once again drive past 1880's Town, a roadside tourist trap that I can't wait to be trapped by! I want to go explore, and have been plotting to do so for a couple years now. I think this is my year!

They are closed during the winter, for obvious reasons. Just look around! But one of these summer days when we're passing through with time to kill, I'm going to grab the wheel away from the driver and swing in. They have truck parking across the street.

Yeah, maybe it is just a tourist trap, but it looks like a fun one. I like looking at old buildings, and here you can also walk out of town to a couple of "homesteads," go visit with some longhorns, and don't forget to stop by and chat with the local characters...

...who really clash with the charisma of the place, but are just too cool to ignore. He's been seen walking next to I-90 on his way to 1880's Town for several years now, faithful friend in tow.

Yes, South Dakota was remarkably more white than Montana which has recently gone through a brief but efficient thaw. Short lived I'm sure, but nice all the same. South Dakota, however, missed out, and it white all the way across, no breaks, no ground peaking through anywhere. Even the Missouri River is a solid sheet of white.

The world was blindingly white till we hit the darkness of nightfall in Minnesota. And when the truck rolled to a stop at our delivery in Illinois, it was still too dark to tell what climate we were in. But after delivery, a short drive, and a 3 hour nap, we woke to a much milder climate and bare ground. Even a little green peaking through, though I imagined it was just my eyes still seeing spots from where the sun reflected off the snow had burned my retinas.

We reloaded corn gluten pellets in Decatur, IL and headed to Texas. The Missouri River may have been a sheet of very thick ice, but the Mississippi never submits to winter's rule.

In fact, just as in days of old, it rebels against forces trying to control it, be they human constructed dikes, or winter's ice. Heavy rains have flooded the banks of the Mississippi's tributaries.

Another evening of driving, and I parked at the reciever in Paris, TX at midnight on Sunday, 2,755 miles in 2 3/4 days. At this rate we'll make up for 2 weeks vacation in a hurry!

Texas was a sight to behold this morning. I was in awe.

I feel like I literally went to sleep in one world, and woke in an alien one. 

I had some time to ponder things as we drove the 50 miles from Paris to Mount Pleasant and I think I figured out what happened. While all of us have been snowblinded...

Springtime snuck across the border into Texas.



Its a full out invasion!



see the soft sheen of new green leaves?

But I'm thinking there isn't going to be much of a resistance to it.

Happy Spring Y'all!

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