Thomas Doty – Storyteller

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Snowmelt on Grizzly Peak

During snowmelt on Grizzly Peak, clouds and sun circle the summit in a dance-step shift of the seasons. The first spring thunderstorm drums a rhythm off the ridge of the Cascades, swelling the sky into a lively pattern of sun and dark clouds.

It's too soon for wildflowers this high up. No meadow of yellow and purple and red. Down the slopes are violets, shooting stars, the plum-colored blossoms of manzanitas. But here, where the ground is bare between patches of old snow, a gray crusty web of duff and debris covers the earth like a dull memory of winter.

Snowmelt on Grizzly Peak. Thunder drums its way into spring. Clouds step it up. The sun dances behind.

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