Just after the stroke of midnight, as Mother’s Day ended, snow started falling at my house. Large fluffy wet flakes accumulated rapidly. By the time the snow stopped, 5 inches had collected, shocking me and many other Boiseans who woke up and looked out the window to see winter had returned. The snow piled on limbs wreaked havoc on trees and shrubs (and powerlines). Huge branches broke off of the silver maples in our yard - some crashing to the ground and others getting hung up in the tree. Our lilac - in full bloom - lost a branch.

Now that I can put some weight on my bum leg, I have been walking the neighborhood, trying to rebuild muscle strength. While wandering the neighborhood, I saw these hardy arrowleaf balsamroots stretching up again toward the sun after being flattened by the snowfall. Next to the balsamroots is a blooming antelope bitterbrush, which still released the most lovely fragrance despite being surrounded by snow.

I captured other, less positive, images - trees completely uprooted from the ground, jagged breaks where branches cracked off, fell, and completely covered the sidewalk. One Russian olive pulled out of the ground and tipped over, taking another tree with it. An entire row of red-leafed trees were decimated - looked like a tornado had torn off limbs and toppled trunks.

We needed the snow - this late moisture may help southern Idaho avoid a serious drought. But I mourn the loss of the trees - after all, Boise is the City of Trees, and we have lost so many.