UFO or is the sun shining in northwest Montana

Winter in the Flathead Valley, ©W.Mumford photography

I could probably count the days of total sunshine we have had since Thanksgiving on one hand. So when the sun has actually shown up the last few weeks, it’s a big deal. Kinda like experiencing an eclipse or encountering a UFO; living things start acting sort of funny. Dogs start frolicking around and barking,  something they usually reserve for the night, about the time I go to bed.

People come outside and start walking around without any real intentions other than to absorb some radiation, recharge the inner batteries and confirm that the sun is still out there even though it offers little in the way of real heat. Sometimes I think these sorties are just to confirm that everyone is still alive and that even though the vehicles move occasionally, it is a confirmation that there are true living organisms next door and they haven’t been hijacked by aliens or worse- other humans.

I usually put off a few outside tasks just for the UFO’s return. A pile of snow here, a stretch of shoveling there, emptying trash out of the back of the pickup that’s been buried in snow for a couple weeks; sacrificial offerings to any deity that might descend from the bright light. One might think it is just procrastination but it’s really not. I’m actually multitasking. I’m spiffing things up and charging my solar battery so I don’t get caught aimlessly wondering around like everyone else. This I believe makes you a target for abduction. The bright lights, the strange creatures,  the can’t remember what happened, the to many shots of tequila kind of thing.

But it’s the birds, the busy singing finches that disappear when the world gets dark and cold whose return signals that somethings really afoot. I don’t know where they disappear to, but it must be a good safe haven because their numbers never seem to dwindle and that is pretty remarkable given that they are one of the few warm meals around for a host hungry predators.  They are like a playground full of kids, endless bundles of energy, flitting around, chattering away till the clouds roll in, the temperatures plummet and the UFO has disappeared again taking it’s hostages along with it.

Tagged as: montana winter