Various ski related websites have graded the professional long-range weather forecasts for the past winter. These are the official forecasts put out by the National Weather Service and numerous private companies.  Ski resorts and others pay big money to these weather soothsayers. They claim t o be based on solid science. The general consensus among the various websites that compared the predictions to what really happened is pretty clear: They don’t know squat.  Most of the sites gave the Rocky Mountain area, which included Utah even though our weather pattern is not the same as Colorado’s, a C-. And that was based on a somewhat reasonable level of accuracy in Colorado. If looking at Utah alone, the scientific forecasts for the past winter were basically a fail.  You want an accurate forecast for the winter ahead? Ask the hornets. Normally there are nests high in the trees indicating a heavy snow year, or near the ground indicating a lighter snow year. Last fall, there were no hornet nests at all. I’ve never seen that before, but apparently a year with no hornet nests points to a winter without snow. I struggled with the decision on buying a season pass this week. There might have been a renewal discount, of an uncertain amount, that has expired. If I choked on the price of a full season and bought a midweek, it was less clear that the discount would apply. The people in the ticket office didn’t know.  I decided to wait and consult with the hornets in October, and depending on what they have to say. Maybe it’s time to buy a fat tire bike instead.  Of course ski passes are the least of our worries. The president is having AI-generated messianic fever dreams and the vice president is correcting the pope on matters of theology.  The image of Trump as Christ was appalling and offensive, even to a skeptic. What I want to know is who sat at the computer and generated it? Is the president of the United States staying up all night telling some AI site to draw a picture of him caring for the sick, “but make me look a little more Jesus-y” this time? Or does he wake up some intern or Cabinet member (which is about the same thing) and instruct them to see if they can generate the image?  And then, on what planet would anybody consider it a good idea to post? “Depicts me as a doctor,” he said. Something ain’t right with that man. Anyway, I needed an escape from all that, and remembered an incident this winter that gives me hope.  I got a call from a neighbor up the street. She asked if I knew “white Corolla guy.” Of course I do. Everybody in this end of the valley knows “white Corolla guy.” We’ve all nearly rear-ended him numerous times. He drives up and down the canyon, making a pretty predictable circuit, every day. At about 15 miles an hour.  So you are driving along at highway speeds (which may or may not be within the posted speed limit), go around a curve, and there’s white Corolla guy at a near standstill in the middle of the road. There are skid marks up and down the road, and more of them are attributable to him than deer or moose walking out of the woods. My neighbor said she was concerned about him, that he didn’t seem to have it all together, and wondered if he was being properly cared for. I knew he lived in the area based on the daily circuit, but didn’t know who he was or anything about him. This all unfolded in a serious of calls over a couple of hours on one of the few snowy days this winter.  She had seen him drive by, headed up Wolf Creek Pass. The pass never closed this winter, a first since the road was paved, but plowing was sketchy. She hadn’t seen him come back down and was afraid he might be stuck in the snow.  So she drove up and found him, stopped where the snow was deep enough that he recognized a problem. He said he was going to Tabiona for lunch, as he did most days, because they have a really good hamburger. She explained that there was too much snow for a Corolla to break trail over the pass that day, and that he should go to Tabiona for lunch another time.  Not much made any sense, though he knew he wanted that hamburger. My neighbor suggested that he should follow her back down to her house, and she’d fix him lunch.  They apparently had a wonderful and sort of nonsensical visit between strangers.  She and her little girls had a hot chocolate tea party with him, and sent him on his way home, at 15 mph.  When she called back and gave me his name, I knew the family. His kids live here, and a whole a pile of caring in-laws. He’s not in need of anything except maybe a hamburger in Tabiona. I still slam on the brake a couple of times a week when nearly running into him, but now, there’s some comfort in knowing he’s OK. A cup of hot chocolate and a PBJ made the world a better place that day. Tom Clyde practiced law in Park City for many years. He lives on a working ranch in Woodland and has been writing this column since 1986. The post More Dogs on Main: Tabiona for lunch appeared first on Park Record. ...read more read less