Snow in the states north of us, high winds and much cooler temperatures (at least for a couple of days) — it’s all what we might expect in Northwest Colorado during the month of June, or even July for that matter. Isn’t it amazing how one year can differ from another?

I’m thinking back to weather in June or July of past years, and what I can remember is mostly associated with times we turned the cattle onto summer pasture. Turn-out onto leased pasture from my brother Duane took place at Morapos about the first week in June when the grass was ready. The date depended on how much moisture the pasture got from winter snow, how long the melt lasted, and how soon the weather warmed up.

At turn-out time, the pasture was beautifully green. We unloaded the cattle beside the road next to a barrow ditch that was usually running a trickle of water from newly melted snow up higher. The grass was reasonably tall then, and the cattle took a few bites before they went through the gate into their summer home.

The ponds in the pasture were filled or mostly filled, again depending on the snowpack from winter. A few years, though, water was so low that it was downright scary. One year, we even had to have water hauled into a big reservoir-size pond before the cattle arrived. Later on, we had to haul water to fill a large stock tank (that was the year the grasshoppers showed up and started eating the vegetation).

I can remember one June in particular when it snowed a few days after we turned the cows out. I was grateful that they had shelter because oak, chokecherry and serviceberry trees/bushes grow thick on the property — so thick that a person can drive by cattle hidden there and never see a single one. So I felt comfortable that the cattle could find food and be out of the sudden storm. Of course, the snow melted right off a couple of days later.

One year, it froze hard before we turned the cattle out. It caught the oak leaf buds at just the right time, and by turn-out, the oaks were without leaves. Later on, the trees budded again, got their leaves, and the area didn’t look so naked.

I can remember some Julys when the weather wasn’t so nice, either. One time was during my growing up at Morapos. There was snow in the air so that we had to postpone some kind of community picnic.

Another was one Fourth of July when our family went to brother Duane’s house. It didn’t snow, but was rainy and cold. We had to have our picnic indoors. Later we went out to the pasture by the house to set off some fireworks (it was certainly damp enough). Duane built a big bonfire and we set off some fireworks until they started getting damp. I remember the kids sitting around the fire with blankets.

So that brings me to today when it’s dreary and mostly cold. How different from yesterday when it was somewhere in the 80s, and I ran the air conditioner on my way home from Craig. I’m ashamed to admit that I have started the furnace so that I feel comfortable to sit and write. It’s June.