The Strange Things Blowing Through an Idaho Winter

I’m used to seeing unusual things moved about when the high winds blow across the high desert.  We’re all familiar with driving on the Interstate on a windy day and the road is filled with tumbleweed.  It sometimes looks like a herd of tribbles blowing across the highway.

Wednesday morning I looked out the office door at work and couldn’t make out what was glowing in the snow.  That was before sunrise.  Later in the day, the business office told me it was a ball.  There’s a park next door and a housing development across the street.

Thirty years ago, I worked at a radio station and a small stream passed by the newsroom window.  One day, we had a gully washer of a storm.  The stream turned into a river.  It’s when I noticed a stuffed dragon bobbing along on the water.  It must have been five feet tall and would’ve eventually floated to a nearby lake.

The wind had died down when I was driving to work.  Just Star Wars snow.  By the way, on Monday, the city splashed brine onto the streets.  It didn’t snow on Tuesday.  Or not until Tuesday night.  While we’ve had worse than what we saw on Wednesday morning, 3:00 a.m. (the name of a Simon and Garfunkel album), our neighbors in several directions have been getting hammered this week.  I’m sharing pictures from friends in Dietrich and Fairfield.

I believe we’ve all had our share of winter.  The reservoirs are doing just fine south of the panhandle.  The rivers and canals won’t be thirsty in spring and summer.