The grass is now greening in Southwest Montana. This means that the race is now on among the members of our homeowners association (I think we’ll take another mulligan in ’07) to have the Best Lawn. Which, in real terms, simply means: They Who Waste the Greatest Amount of Water to Keep Their Lawn Pretty.

Which is as good of a reason as any to get out of the burbs and head to the hills.

The drive from my house to this Bangtail Mountain trailhead, where there is still snow, is long: 24 minutes.

We’ll do it, though. Kicking and screaming. Because winter is now speeding upward, and we know, like many others in this mountain town, that spring simply means: “a long time until ski season again”. Bummer, dude.

I brought back a snowball for the neighbors, and hid it in the corner of their yard, hoping that little patch will be annoyingly greener than the rest of their lawn come June.

Photo: Author and son, Chase, in the Bangtail Mountains of Southwest Montana.