JUNE on the Mountain

JUNE on the Mountain

So, we come to the 6^th month of the year, in the land where May showers bring June flowers.  Salmonberry, Oregon Grape, Oxalis, and 3-year-old Quince, to name a few, are blooming bravely and proudly.  A few bees are heard buzzing around, especially when walking the trails.  The bees know I’m no flower.  But they just want to let me know that this is their flower territory and I’d best keep moving on.  Of course it gets light early in the morning (dawn can start as early as 4am nowadays and dusk lingers on past 10.  The longer days are really appreciated and stick around clear until mid-August.

However, we are still missing some other signs that summer has arrived.  Locals know that up here summer does not start on Memorial Day weekend and by July 4^th we’ll know whether we’ll have a summer to brag or complain about. Both have equal conversational value. It’s a win-win either way for us. 

Summer is not for certain here and when it will arrive is any mountain dweller’s guess. We cannot tell by the calendar. It’s not the summer solstice. It’s not when the weather person says it is. In order that we know when summer arrives, and if it comes at all, here are some of the signs to look for along the way:

1. The US Forest Service puts up their color coded fire danger sign and the pointer moves off of the green;
2. We have three hot  (75+ degrees) days in a row;
3. The rainforest moss starts looking a bit bedraggled;
4. The seasonal creeks are dried up;
5. The number of friends who want to come and visit increases substantially so our homes become B&B’s;
6. The pickup trucks no longer have tarps covering everything in the truck beds;
7. Our cat, Buddy, no longer sleeps under the covers;
8. The spring Chinook salmon are no longer running;
9. More visitors come for hiking than for skiing and snowboarding;
10. Bats come out at dusk and control the mosquitoes;
11. Flowers appear on tomato, pepper, bean, melon, and squash plants;
12. School buses disappear and grandchildren multiply;
13. The dirt roads are dusty and they are devoid of lakes;
14. The deer, bears, cougars, and bobcats go uphill to feed.  Coyotes tend to stick around.

 If 10 or more of the above occur, in all liklihood, summer has arrived.