The first signs of spring have arrived on the edges of the Flint Hills. The smoke from range burning season clearing over the shortgrass prairie to reveal the austere beauty of the emerging flowers, the nightly light shows to the west as the season's thunderstorms roll down from the Front Range.
In our town, the progress of the year has its own markers. The "slap-slap, slap-slap" of flip-flops, the emergence of tattoos as the fat guys ditch their shirts, and our favorite, the appearance of the garden supply tents at the local retailers.
The average date of the last frost in these parts comes in about the middle of April, but it was 6º on this date in 1955, and in 1907 there was snow on the ground on May 3. The weather seers foretell a high of 58º today, with a low of around 40º overnight, with snow coming on Saturday. Probably too soon to do anything but wait for this years seeds to come in, and wait for the seeds to come up in the peat pots and the origami newspaper boxes.
Which brings us to the scene at one of our town's Wal-Marts. This was the scene a few days ago, where the inventory is expected any day now for the spring garden rush. Since that inventory consists largely of plants, with selection of wheelbarrows and bags of soil amendments, there hasn't been much to see.
On the one hand, the selection is pretty thin, but on the other hand, you can't beat the prices.
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