The weather men on all of the t.v. stations were united in their forecasts about the weather that we were going to have.  They all said that the day before valentines day at between 11:00 a.m. to 1:00 p.m. we would have a quick little snow flurry pop in over Utah and then leave as quickly as it had come.  They said that by 7:00 p.m. or 8:00 p.m. we would see the winds subside and the temperatures go back up and that they would stay up for that next several days.  The most snow that we could look forward to, said they, was between 1 to 2 inches on the valley floors and maybe as high as 4 to 6 inches of snow on the benches.  Yeah, right.  They are now trying to explain to us how it is that the " worst snow storm I've ever seen in all of my years of being a meteorologist" could have come from such a low key beginning.  They were close to being correct on the call of when it would start, but hours off of when it would stop.  Also, the amounts of snow that it left in it's wake totally made them look like kids with their wet fingers in the air and guessing about which way the wind was blowing, as far as missing the mark on accuracy.  The least that it dropped in the valleys was 8 to 9 inches and in some places it got as high as 2 feet.  There were many auto accidents due to the storm and the lack of visibility and quite a few were 8 to 10 vehicles or more.  Many roads were closed and traffic was so bad that people were abandoning their  cars and hiking out to shelter.  In the Hyland- Alpine area, the kids were sent home from school "a little early in order to help the buses beat the traffic that was anticipated due to the snow and the anticipated rush of cars going home from work".  A high number of these kids were not even able to get away from the school and of those that did leave in buses, I don't think any were able to deliver any of the children to their homes.  Instead, they were recalled to  the school after hours of being stuck in traffic and some of them didn't even make it back to the school until after 10:00 at night.  Over 150 kids wound up having a sleep over in the school gym.  They were fed and watched t.v. and had a pretty good party, actually, but didn't get home until the following day, when school was canceled so that the teachers (now totally worn out from trying to control the whole mess) could go home and get some well deserved sleep. A great number of businesses and schools, etc. were closed for the day because they were so badly snowed in. Happy valentines day!!!

Again, for the 3rd or 4th time this year, I just hunkered down and rode the storm out right here in my nice warm home and rejoiced at being able to due to being retired.  It makes me strain to try to remember how I used to just go out and brave the storms knowing that I really had no choice in the matter.  It had to be done, so I did it.  It makes choosing so simple. I so enjoy the options that I now have.  One of my ward members who is a little younger than I am (though not by much) slipped on the ice the other day and broke his hip. He'll be laid up for quite a while trying to heal from that. I remember taking a number of good hard falls myself when out in bad weather, but I was blessed by never having broken any bones or anything else of import when I went down. The only thing that was really hurt was my dignity. 

Now that this storm is supposedly over, the great prognosticators of the whims and whiles of mother nature assure us that we are on our way to the warmer weather that they had forecast for us before.  I hope so, as I really am getting tired of winter and long to be out prospecting with both my metal detector and my high banker before the prices of gold and silver start to go back down.  Gold is still closing out at between $900 to $950 per oz. every day and many people are saying they believe it will continue up until it goes over $1000 per oz..  With today's economy I suppose it just might, but I don't want to bet anything serious on it.  My brother Tom and I have started putting more emphasis on the metal detectors that we have for sale through our web store at www.cougarhollow.biz and in our ads in the on line media in channel 2, 4 and 5's classified ads as well as in our e-bay sales. I think it's turning out to be a good idea, now that people are starting to look forward to getting out too. The fun thing with a metal detector that varies from the gold hunting is that it can be done even in your own yards and local parks and public areas and quite successfully.  We also are putting several good books in our inventory telling about where and how to look for coins and jewelry and so forth expressly for those who are just getting started.  This is a fun hobby that can be enjoyed by the entire family and can be fairly lucrative also. Most people have no idea how much gold it takes to make an ounce of gold. It usually surprises them to find that a gold coin that is just a little larger than a quarter is equal to an ounce of gold and that this is the amount of gold that is bringing over $900 on the international markets. A couple of gold men's rings could amount to  that volume with very little trouble, and that's not counting any gemstones that these rings could contain. A good metal detector could pay for itself quite fast if  you found a couple of items like that (and believe me, people do).  I've been asked several times to help people find lost rings and things with my detector.  Its kind of fun ( like a hide and seek game, almost). At any rate, I can hardly wait to get back out there.

Sooner,

Badger Bill