Column: Spring in Montana

I've got to admit that last Wednesday I was really starting to get nervous.

Usually during the winter months I always know there is a chance that the newspaper might be delayed a few hours or possibly a day because of weather, but that isn't something that crossed my mind once the month of May rolled around.

While the weather in downtown Whitehall was raining, it was snowing fiercely with just a small climb in elevation.

Just moments after Melissa went to pickup the Ledger from the printer in Anaconda, MDOT officials announced the eastbound lane of Homestake Pass was closed due to an accident and unfavorable conditions. A few hours later the chain law was in effect on the westbound lane.

I was first and foremost worried about Melissa and her safety as she navigated the roads. I also didn't want her to end up getting stuck on the side of the road for hours. I also had no idea how she was going to get back with the newspaper. There is always MT Hwy 2, but if the weather on the pass is bad, it will most likely not be pretty on that road either.

I told her to use caution and if the paper is late, oh well. Her safety is more important than the paper being on time.

It turned out the paper was only about 1.5 hours late, and she was able to get here safely on Highway 2. I didn't want to laugh when she came into the office, but I had to once I saw her condition. She looked like she had spent the day at a water park, but unfortunately never got into a swimsuit. She also looked like at any moment she would shake her fist into the sky and scream "why do you do this to me in May, Montana? Why?". I think at this point she is probably still cold, and a little wet, but hopefully this is the last storm of the winter. I'd like to be confident in saying that, but after many springs in the Rockies, who knows what will happen.

I've seen outdoor graduation ceremonies moved inside, and once saw it snow on the Fourth of July. The next few weeks the weather should get warmer, but there is always a chance it doesn't.

Once the paper was delivered to the post office and various stops in town, we both could take a deep breath and know that Thursday morning was not going to be a horrible ordeal at the office.

There are certainly a lot of people that love the Ledger, others not so much. No matter what, if it doesn't show up in stores or mailboxes, we will hear about it Thursday and Friday. This is a good thing. At least a lot of people care about the paper showing up. It could be the opposite.

If the paper was delayed four days because of a storm reminiscent of a Stephen King book, and nobody called or was waiting at the store for it to be delivered, I would feel kind of bad.

Hopefully this week the paper gets into stores on time, but you never know.