By Scott Shephard
It was -14° F when I stepped out onto our lower patio. My weather app said that the “feels like” temperature was just . . . -14° F with no wind to factor in. I thought, “I can do this.” And so, wrapped in a towel, I made my way to our hot tub, opened the lid, and eased into the 104° water. And just like that Winter and the Great White North, where we live, vanished.
For some reason several drone photos that I took back in early September came to mind as I enjoyed the jets massaging my lower back. I closed my eyes and all I could see was green grass and trees. There are many fantasies one can indulge in while soaking in a hot but but yesterday morning, surrounded by cold and snow, this was mine.
Another fantasy of mine from a time long ago when I actually enjoyed mowing our lawn was that it would look like the meticulously groomed fairways of Augusta National Golf Course. I never achieved this look, of course. But the people who own this house a block or two north of us, deserve some kind of recognition for what they’ve accomplished. I’m guessing, though, that they never got to see their lawn as I and the birds did.
“I close my eyes
Only for a moment and the moment’s gone
All my dreams pass before my eyes, a curiosity.”
And so I return to my theme of late: it seems like only a short time ago that our landscape looked like what we see here today. The trees and grass go through all their permutations and seem so quickly blanketed by snow and cold.
Someday soon, when warmth has returned to South Dakota I suspect I will ask, “Did I really hot tub in -14° F temps?” It will seem like only yesterday . . . .
DJI Mini 3 Pro (5 frame HDR)