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Yellow Bird: Blizzard Coyote howls once again
Wednesday, March 11, 2009
Filed Under: Opinion

"In my apartment on Tuesday, it seemed as if the wind was using the fireplace chimney like a whistle and blowing a weird, sad song. Blizzard Coyote showed mid-January strength and made me wish for spring.

Yet such blizzards are not unusual for North Dakota in March. For that matter, when I lived at Fort Yates, N.D., I can remember a May blizzard that froze cattle on the Plains like stiff, grotesque works of art.

Before the age of computers and satellites, weather was predicted by the ache in grandma’s elbow or the stiffness in an uncle’s knees. My grandmother also told us she used to watch the fox or rabbits for signs of winter weather changes.

Many times, those old ways of predicting the weather were wrong, and someone would end up on the prairie without a chance to rethink their decision to travel.

My aunt, Rose, always tells me about the rancher who went to Dickinson, N.D., after payday and when he started home, he was caught in a winter snowstorm. He froze sitting beside a big rock with his horse patiently weathering the storm and waiting for his master to climb back in the saddle."

Get the Story:
COLUMNIST DORREEN YELLOW BIRD: Coyote's howl brings back chilly memories (The Grand Forks Herald 3/11)

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