Another March-like morning enveloped mid Missouri as I left Columbia and headed for our farm in Metro Denver. A waning moon was high in the western sky and puffy clouds drifted northward on a balmy south breeze. By the time I reached Kansas, the moon had set and the air had lost its humidity. Nevertheless, bright sunshine softened the bite of the northwest wind and temperatures hovered in the low forties.
The Flint Hills had their usual, dry winter appearance but, nearing Abilene, meltwater puddles lined the highway. The first patches of snow showed up just east of Salina, where the valley fields had become shallow wetlands. Flashing signs, perhaps sponsored by the Salina hotels, warned of winter conditions ahead and a convoy of Power Company trucks headed west along the Interstate. Indeed, the snow became more widespread as I entered central Kansas and, beyond WaKeeney, the bare areas disappeared. Dunes of snow lined the highway in western Kansas and the snowpack peaked on the plains of eastern Colorado. But the sunshine persisted and I-70 remained clear and dry, all the way to Denver.
Eleven hours after my departure, I reached our Littleton farm, 5000 feet higher and 20 degrees colder than Columbia. Though my travels had been uneventful, two feet of snow clogged our long driveway; I had to park down the road and hike up to the house. Winter was back with a vengeance.
