A freakish spring storm brought tornadoes, hail, and then in the middle of the night, snow! It was big fluffy flakes that covered the ground and is busy melting off now. The trees, the birds, the cattle and I were not quite ready for that. At three in the morning, it felt like Christmas, and even now, the cherry tree with its white blossoms looks like dollops of snow. The drink for the Earth around here was needed and the oats are soaking it up like a runner with a Gatorade after a marathon. It brings a certain sense of reality to  Jess in my new novel, who finds herself lost in a spring storm. The dangers of weather are  real in every rural area, and sometimes even in the city. I have to plan extra time on a morning like this to drive to work on the miles of what were dirt roads but now turned to mud. I can’t complain though, as we always need and welcome moisture.