Ah, the great weather April can bring. Sometimes you never know what to expect. One day 90 degrees, two days later ... snow.
Yes, the weather has been frustrating at times this April, but really, it isn’t anything new. April can be a very volatile month for weather in the heartland.
While we may think April snow is not normal - and it's not - it is far from a freak occurrence. Remember all the way back to, say, last year. It was just one year ago, actually less than a year ago, when double-digit snowfall totals hit Western Kansas. In fact, 14 inches of snow fell in the hometown of Kevyn Soupiset, Elkhart, on April 30.
Garden City lost power for a while and I-70 was closed from Hays to Colorado. Areas around Oakley had as much as 20 inches or more. Dadgum global warming anyway.
So while it isn’t common to work around snow in April, it is not anything new. May is coming. The weather will warm. The grass will green up and the flowers will bloom. It will all work out. I promise.

Prep Thoughts
Call me an idiot if you wish, my wife does regularly, so this would be nothing new. But I still feel like the Great Bend High baseball and softball teams can make some post-season noise.
I realize the records are not that overwhelming. The baseball boys are 4-6 and softball girls are 4-8. But the baseball team just might be on the cusp of jelling. A win over previously unbeaten TMP Tuesday hopefully will be the catapult for Coach Randy Beck and his team that gets them on a roll.
As for the softballers, I couldn’t imagine anyone in the state has played a much tougher schedule than Carrie Minton and her Panthers. Most recently they battled a 10-2 Dodge City close the first game and well into the second game before the elements may have gotten to them in the final inning Tuesday.
The issue for both may be the post-season set up. Much like the football post-season, Class 5A baseball and softball regionals are split into the East half and West half and seeded 1-16. That may make the route a tough one to advance through.

Former Barton Athlete/Coach update
Nyika Williams was one of my favorite basketball players for the Barton men’s team. We even fought one time, I think I knocked him out. Well, okay, so it was that Wii boxing thing, but, still, I knocked out someone 6-9. I’m sticking with it.
His professional basketball career is now in its seventh season. For the last two seasons, he had been playing for the Ehime Orange Vikings in Japan. He is doing quite well. In just a year and a half, he was surpassed the 1000-point plateau with the squad.
Williams was part of Barton’s last Jayhawk West championship team in 2009 then went on to Pacific for a couple years, starting 26 games as a senior.
Keep it up Nyika. Maybe we can have a boxing rematch someday. Or not, I might not win again.

And Finally
Well, I survived Prom. Graduation is still a month away. I think I have some downtime from major events. I think. I’m sure Crystal will let me know if things are different.
Although graduation party plans have been in the works for a while. With Katelyn, Donovan and Madison all having their party together, coordination is always big. But I think most of that has taken place as well. Again, I think. Again, Crystal, I’m sure, will let me know.
I bet it will be of the very few graduation parties with a bounce house. The kids have talked about wanting one at their graduation party since like 7th grade. And they will have one.
Hopefully, my downtime will allow me get some other things done. I know the yard is crying for me to get out and give her some tendering loving care. Speaking of the yard, I did get a nice birdhouse that my father made and my parents delivered when they came to visit on Easter. Red and blue and ready for some KU decals.
Now if we can just make the blackbirds leave and entice more birds like Cardinals and Bluejays. Maybe I should put a sign on it banning the blackbirds.
The weather hasn’t been the best in the yard. Flowers that were already in bloom took a beating over the cold weekend. It didn’t seem to bother the henbit, though. I think it actually made it grow faster.
Hopefully, my mower will start. I haven’t tried it yet. You can tell. Might be a good idea to run it over the yard before the big rain event I keep hearing about coming this weekend.
I’m also thinking, with the peonies coming up so nicely, I should probably cut the old ones from last year. My mother always told me to cut them in a month with an ‘r’ in it. I think she meant like October or November. But April has an ‘r’ in it, right?
Might also be a good idea to cut the pampas grass.
So, yeah, maybe it is time to give the yard some care. After all, I can’t keep having Jim Schneider drive by and tell me Steve Webster’s yard looks better than mine. It does, but I don’t need the Mailman, albeit retired, yelling it to me while he drives by.

Mike Marzolf is a guest columnist for the Great Bend Tribune and his views don’t necessarily reflect those of the paper. He can be reached at MarzolfM@bartonccc.edu.