Snow never lies

I read that somewhere recently, in a poem. The snow tells us so much about all the natural activities that took place while we are tucked in the house at night. A bird party near some dropped corn feed, a three some of deer wandering through to higher ground, a lone cat heading for the barn through the vegetable garden. Under the car, I see where Mama, Plum and Orange sat huddled, mingling so their feet all became one. The large, clumsy imprints of my muck boots seemed to ruin the beauty of the other natural foot dances. I pondered how much lovlier it would be if I were barefoot,or in natural skinned shoes.

We're getting through the winter storm with a few bumps, but feel blessed to have power, heat and water. Our main house pump broke a part in the cold, but Martyn spent all day and fixed it. Get 'em handy, ladies. The main stress of the cold weather is on the animals. I fretted a lot but so far everyone is ok. The first storm day was very blustery and Boone was shivering by 4pm feeding time. He has access to his indoor stall all day, but the wind kept it miserable. I fed 4x the normal hay, and put him in an inner stall that night and he was fine. I even put the hardy donkeys in, with Frankie, and it helped Lucia too,who arrived at dinner with the shakes. I worried most about the chickens, but so far they are ok. The barn cats seem uneffected, but the porch cats have taken to their underground den. I rigged up some hay areas for them and it helped. HAuling water 2x a day to 2 barns is a drag, but at the same time, it makes me feel very crispy and alive, and useful and loving. Martyn has stayed home too and it's nice to have him in the barns, even though the animals always address him with, "Is everything OK? Why are you here today? Are you sick? Is it shot day?"

Being from Minnesota, I usually scoff at the weather tv people here. 25 degrees usually garners a giant news title like "STORM WATCH!!!" But 15 degrees makes for havoc in the barnyward, and it reminds me of the long, long winters in my former life and land. It's nice to have a week of snow - but like the crew I feed, we'll be happy to feel the balmy 40-50 degree winter rains drops.

But snow on the tippy tops of everything, it's lovely while it lasts.