Is winter over?

Posted by Catherine Stifter

March 23, 2007

I'm still laying a fire in the woodstove to heat my office in the mornings, but by about 2pm, I'm sitting in the sunny garden with my laptop, surfing the Internet on a wireless connection from my satellite dish. The solar panels are perfectly angled to top off the batteries by about noon each day, so I don't have to check the power meter before I fire up the coffee grinder. Ah, the quintessential Sierra Internet commuter lifestyle.

I do my website consulting job from home. That saves the daily commute to town. And at 55 miles round trip in biodiesel car at 46mpg, also saves just about $.05 in carbon emission offsets each week. I'm doing my part for climate change, but more important to me, I save the 40 minutes each way it takes to drive downhill and come back up the Yuba River canyon.

I'd rather stay up here at 4000' and watch the hound's tongue pop up their little blue flowers and see whether the flicker will come back to nest in a nearby snag. The robins are driving me crazy every morning. They are SO loud flying around to find stuffing for their nests. Even my hummingbirds are back.

Although the calendar confirms it, I am always amazed at spring in the Sierra.

And as the last of the snow begins to melt, I can just about hear the rivers letting loose. Maybe not as wild as last year, but it won't stop me from pulling out my wetsuit and checking my rafting gear. The first river trip of the season will be Sunday! Yahoo! Spring IS here.