11 Danae Becker I never knowwhat kind of weather South Dakota will offer. Unpredictability is at the heart of the state’s weather patterns: a difficult truth to remember, until it’s upon me. I recognize familiar emotions associated with various weather. Sunny days are wonderful when the sky is a rich, cerulean blue dotted with puffy, white clouds and the warmth seeps through my hair into the top of my head. There’s a peace in it that tells me everything will be okay. But once the pristine clouds become grayer and darken the sky, I hope that the sun doesn’t shine again for a long time. I’ll wait to hear a deep growl of thunder and I’ll wait to see sharp raindrops smack the window glass. I’ll rush to retrieve my laptop so that I can write, or I’ll grab a good book to read so that I don’t waste the precious ambiance of the storm. Once rain becomes snow, I’m truly settled in, decked in leggings and fluffy socks with a warmmug of coffee or apple cider in my hand and watching the powdery flakes bleach the neighborhood. Never will that dismal weather be unwelcome, regardless of where I am. Sometimes I’m safe at home, other times I’m driving. One rare moment, I was sitting outside in a hot tub perched on the deck of Spearfish Canyon Lodge. My grandparents used to take my brother and me to the lodge every Mother’s Day weekend. Some years, it would feel like spring, with warm sun and freshness throughout the Black Hills. Other years, snowwould still cover the hiking trails and Spearfish Falls would be frozen. Once, we planned to pack up the car and get doughnuts on the way to the lodge–the blizzard was so extreme that we sadly decided to pick up the doughnuts, turn around, and spend the weekend at home. Only in extreme cases does snow scare us away from our annual visit. I’ve walked the trails, stomping down snow and being careful not to slip. The most fun is running barefoot, in a swimsuit, through the snow to get to the hot tub; there was always something so disconnected and daring about that experience that I thoroughly enjoyed it. To add to it, my brother and I would make snowballs while sitting in the hot tub, then drop them in and watch them vanish in the steaming water. Three years ago, I was sitting with my grandmother and my brother in the hot tub. Perched on that deck, we sat in the bowl of the canyon, surrounded by rocky walls and fragrant pines. The purl of the creek sounded below. She asked about school, I asked how retirement was treating her. We reminisced, like always, about coming to the lodge when I was still a child. We remembered the games, when she and I would play the princesses and my brother would take on the part of the knight, saving us by slaying the dragon, my grandfather. We recalled finding countless snails dotted in the snow on the Spearfish Falls Trail. come what may
RkJQdWJsaXNoZXIy NzkyNTY=