It is definitely spring — even on the North Fork. I’ve seen gophers in my field, snow is gone except in shaded areas and plows had piled it, deer and elk are taking advantage of new green sprouts. and to clinch the deal, portions of the North Fork Road are pretty darn dusty.

Perhaps better than any other time of the year, spring reminds us of the cycle of life. As the grass greens up, buds begin to swell and the air warms, we all think of the rebirth of life which, of course, is just the first step toward our final reward.

This winter, as usual, we lost several long-time North Forkers. Bud Holcomb, Marv Walde and Dick Cleary all passed over the Great Divide this winter and will be missed.

Leonard “Bud” Holcomb had the longest North Fork history. I think he was the son of Henry Holcomb’s brother, but he was adopted by Harry and Lena at a young age and was raised on the North Fork and attended the school just north of Ford Station, less than half a mile south of the Holcomb homestead.

As an adult, he was a painting contractor in the Flathead Valley, but he returned to the North Fork every summer to camp in Harry’s meadow with a ton of relatives for fishing, floating, target shooting and discussing eternal truths around the camp fire in the evening and into the night. He will be missed, but I hope and expect the family gatherings will continue even if the fishing isn’t as good and neighbors are more plentiful than when Bud was a boy.

Of course, there are new beginnings for humans, too. Ed and Cecily McNeil’s granddaughter, Fiona McNeil, will graduate from the University of Montana on May 18. Her degree is in costume design, and she graduates with honors.

No one who knows Fiona is surprised that she graduated in four years or that she will graduate with honors. To me, it seems like yesterday that Mac and Cecily were spending summers on the North Fork with their two teenage sons. Now the daughter of their youngest is graduating from college and starting a new phase in her life.

Also starting a new phase is my granddaughter, Cindy Coldsby, She was married in March, and she and her new husband, Preston Person, are living in Missoula.

Again, time has passed too quickly — only yesterday, I took pictures of Cindy being bathed in the kitchen sink at my cabin. Maybe I should offer them to her new husband.

Really starting new is Bill and Josie Meeker’s newest grandson, Hunter, who will see the North Fork for the first time this summer and will probably join us in the fall for hunting camp.

I’m sure there are others that I don’t know, but you get the point. As for me, I mourn the loss of our winter pavement and cuss the dirty road, but in the end I’m glad I’m here to experience it and enjoy another North Fork summer. Hope we have no flood, no big wildfires and fewer than usual mosquitoes. What do you think?