I am about to start my third year of living in the Santa Cruz mountains that border San Jose. On April 1 I awoke to snow. It was 32 degrees F. Brrr!

At 2700 feet elevation, I've come to expect one or two short-lived snowfalls in January. April is typically warm, pleasant, and sunny. Two weeks ago I finished planting spring wildflowers, hanging wasp traps to catch queens when they awake, and moving the outdoor furniture to the porch. Time will tell whether the snow and cold spring temperatures will affect the flowers or kill off the wasps before they have a chance to fly into the traps I set.