Closer to the end

Did I say the end of winter is near? I lie like a rug! Just look outside on any given day since I said so the last time. My optimistic outlook is dwindling almost as fast as the temperature drops on a clear March morning.

It started out like any other Saturday morning, getting the chores done at a leisurely pace while sampling various breakfast goodies. Other than a little digestive disorder everything was fine. I was filling the water troughs, but feeling a bit weaker than usual. That in itself was a little disconcerting as I felt I had finally regained the strength I lost a year and a half ago after surgery, but that's an old story. I decided to come back up to the house and do a little r&r. When I got back to the house I took off my coat and hollered as best I could to the ladies about needing some help. The next thing I know I am on the bathroom floor looking up at Stitch who is repeating my name and the Cooker is calling 911. Well, as they say, the lights were on but there was nobody home inside my body for a minute or three. Apparently I threw a head and shoulder block into the door jamb on the way to the floor (yes, it left a mark). Shortly thereafter we started receiving company in the form of neighbor first responders and the ambulance crew from town. Having been an EMT and knowing these people it was a funny feeling being on the receiving end of an assessment. Since I hadn't had a heart attack or stroke I got to leave the ER after about 5 hours of replenishing fluids. Oh yes, they did get to see what I had for lunch, lucky them. We blamed some flu-like bug, I guess.

The next morning I was not up for getting up so the Cooker did the morning feeding of the horses. I didn't have the heart to tell her that it was 11 degrees below zero. She figured it out by the time she got back in. Stitch would have done it, but she flew off to San Diego for a work-related trip after she knew I would live.

Do you ever find unidentifiable science experiments in your refrigerator? We don't very often, but now and then we just can't figure out what it was, but this is what it looked like.

Aliens may have left it in there when they stopped by last time, because none of us can figure out what else it could be. The Cooker is known to experiment with foods, but vehemently denies any knowledge of this particular item.

On a slightly less disgusting note there has been a lot of talk of saints lately. St. Patrick drove the snakes from Ireland and St. Urho drove the grasshoppers from Finland (saving the grape crop). Now there is a new head of the Catholics naming himself after a pretty well known saint. Those are pretty big red shoes to fill in light of all the evil that has come from that institution in recent years. Can't say as I have ever known a saint,but I have known some fine people.

One the way home a couple of weeks ago I stopped just downhill from work at the harbor and caught this moment around sunset.

We have also been having a few visitors of the avian persuasion that we don't see very often. There have been some Hoary Redpolls at the feeder for example, but I spotted a hole in the snow that indicated a larger visitor had been hunting in the back yard. Sure enough, just before I decided to be sick the ladies said I should see what's in the back yard. So, I grabbed my camera and saw this guy. I think it's a guy as the females are usually a bit larger, but he was just trying to catch some Z's in a tree.

The next day it was snowing and he decided to try a different tree. If you're not looking for them they can blend in rather well, especially on a gray and snowy day.

We do see these Great Grey Owls occasionally in Winter, but hopefully he will head north as the spring approaches. It's one of those harbinger things, ya know.

The end (of winter) is near

Somehow finishing with the depths of winter has been much busier than I remember. Maybe the mind whirls with the expectation of things to come. An eclectic mix of activities seems to occur. My Norwegian friends have gone back to Norway after a rousing time in the upper Midwest. They even did a blog entry about me. The blizzard when the pictures were taken was just shy of painful to be in, but the horses didn't seem to care much. See it here at  http://www.lutefiskhotel.com/blog/  and read about their project, as well.

Then a friend  asked me to list some stuff on eBay for him, so I did. Some radiator valves and a couple of bronze Tibetan Buddhist Phurbas. I had to figure out exactly what they were in order to describe them. The things I have to learn on the way! Sheesh!

I buy, sell, and trade some photographic equipment in order to finance the stuff I really hope to get. Sometimes I get to "meet" some interesting folks from all over the world like Malaysia, India, and that exotic paradise to the north, Canada. I have been really lucky with my dealings as I find that most people are very honorable and decent. Then I wonder why there is still war, hunger, and curable disease all over the planet. Maybe all of our "leaders" are not very impressive at all. Who knows? 

Got out on the horses a bit. Its like riding a merry-go-round in deep snow as the horse steps high in knee deep snow. Here is Stitch on my horse, Draugen. She and the Cooker will be taking Draugen and Mirage to the Minnesota Horse Expo at the end of next month.

I stopped by one of our local trout streams on the way home from work the other day. The ice barely got a hold of the big lake this winter, but the streams are pretty well locked up. I missed the shards of ice blowing up to the shore, but the next day there was still some interesting, slippery piles to look at.

Sunrise can be a nice time of day on the farm. Especially the quiet and colorful time a few minutes before the sun peeks through the trees. It looks a lot like this right out the front door.

This morning looked a lot like that and it is still a little crisp outside with a morning temperature of 0F. Better days are coming!

Groundhog Day

Groundhog Day is one of my favorite holidays. Maybe because it is silly and frivolous and has little significance in the real world it becomes “something special”.  Most people know the story of Punxsutawney Phil , the famous Pennsylvania rodent. For me it’s kind of a turning point in winter. The days get noticeably longer and while it was -16F (-27C) with about a 15mph (6.7mps) breeze, there is a promise of spring in the way the sky looks. My SAD seems to wane a bit and the drive to work and home again has enough light to see the deer (ditch donkeys) before they attack. I want to try and describe the drive in this morning. After warming up the truck for a few minutes I proceeded down the county road to the big lake. I turn west toward town and the vision most of the way is this: the sun is rising behind me through the steam rising from the lake lights up the blue sky with a ¾ moon beginning to set the horizon is obscured by the lake steam giving it a dreamy effect.  Of course, I didn’t have my camera, but if I get the same thing tomorrow morning I might try and do it. Tough on the equipment and fingers, though.

The actual Day of the Groundhog.
The groundhog would have seen his shadow which means only 6 more weeks of winter! That is awesome!
While we refer to them as woodchucks, they are still the same rodent, but I couldn't bring myself to wake one from hibernation in this sub-zero weather. That would be cruel. I'll get out in the sun, but then hunker down with a few cats and a good book (Indridason's "Voices").

Certain things are abandoned in the winter like tundra houses from Dr. Zhivago, but here we have trees, however stunted they may seem. Not so frost covered either, but still looking abandoned.

Everybody's talkin'

About the weather, but nobody is doing anything about it. At least it's a holiday (Martin Luther King Jr.) and not everyone has to go anywhere. Even here at work the outside temperature is -17F (-27C) . Up at the airport its -24 with a 21mph wind giving a windchill of -47. Damned chilly, if you ask me. It has been considerably colder in the past, but climate change has lulled us into complacency over the last couple of decades. These cold snaps used to last a couple of weeks, now only a few days. It is a dubious benefit of global warming for some of us, but not so good when looking at the big picture.

Today we are inaugurating President Obama for a second term. Officially it was yesterday, but, whatever. The president's hair is graying like many of his predecessors, his daughters are growing up, and Michelle is still classy and hot. I really think the whole country should be taking today off. At least the Cooker and Stitch get to stay home and take care of the horses and clean the barn. Maybe they can have some down time, too.

In four or five months I will be able to take a short walk at lunch and see this again.   

Of course I have to walk past the forklift to get there.

This is the curse of the working class. I ask myself, "why wasn't I born wealthy instead of smart and good-looking?" I may never have the answer. Maybe I'm not so smart after all.

The good thing about "working" on a day like this is that I can write this instead of actually working. It will be a slow day during the slow season and I will actually do a fair amount of useful work-related stuff, but taking a little break to have a little life is an advantage that I can appreciate. Tomorrow I may stay home to take care of the farm as I have to be here on Saturday this week. This is what winter is like in my world. I hope your winter is gentle.

I better get back to work.

2013, right?

A new year has dawned and we are already a month past the solstice. My attitude improves with each lengthening day. This is "up North" for many people, but winters have been getting progressively milder for a couple of decades now. We are just going into our first cold spell of more than a day or two for the first time this winter. After about 8 inches of snow over the past couple of days the bottom is dropping out of the thermometer. It lets you know this by blow all the accumulated snow into the woods or the big lake. I have a lot of bare ground again! Yesterday the temperature dropped from 27 at 3:00 pm  to -1 by 10:00 pm and the wind went from nothing to 20-30 mph all night. Even with 9-1/2" walls you still hear the wind.

The horses are fat and hairy, but even they decided going in the barn overnight was a good thing. I gave them some breakfast at the usual time, but seeing as how I don't have to go to work today I didn't put them out until nearly 10. They were ready by then. They will likely be put in most nights this week as the cold and wind continue. It means about an extra hour and a half for two people to clean and reset the bark each day. As I noted to myself the other day after doing it alone, " I ain't fifty anymore." It was easier when I was younger.
The horses haven't had to do much tis winter, but a couple of weeks ago they helped teach a couple of our musher neighbors how to ride. They were somewhat bored as you can see by their sleepy eyes.

I have been doing a little reading again. Finally a little down time. I am just getting started on Arnaldur Indridason's detective stories and other writings. The fun thing about those is that while the places are exotic (Iceland) I have been to some of them which gives the settings a familiarity. On the other hand it is also good to read about places I haven't been to try and get an idea of what they may be like.

I haven't been taking a lot of pictures as there isn't much daylight and it's damn cold some days. I have been buying and selling some lenses and cameras in order to make a few bucks to help get some really nice lenses. It is a slow and tedious way to do it and it would be far more efficient to work a part time job for a few hours a week. At least I can do it from home and I get to play with a few "toys" before I send them on to their next home. It keeps me out of the bars. Here is a shot from a while back looking from the barn to the neighbors' house at sunset at about 4 in the afternoon.

Back to the book at hand.

Not a creature was stirring.

It was a cold and windy Christmas eve. What little snow there was started to get that squeaky sound it gets when you walk on it as the temperature dips below zero (-17C). The north wind howled like a mythical creature determined to survive the worst extremes nature could inflict. I figured I better put the horses in the barn or die of terminal guilt knowing they could have it much easier. So I set up all ten stalls with heated water buckets, fresh fluffy bedding, and a good pile of hay in there feeders. When I turned off the last light before going back to the house the last sound I heard was the happy chewing sound horses make when they have a mouthful of hay. I smiled and walked out the door and into the north wind which was trying to burn and peel my face off before I got back to the house. It nearly succeeded.

The deer are still wandering around and it is fun to try and figure out where and why they go where they do. I let them test the ice first.

The Big Lake gets kind of whipped up when the wind comes out of the east. If I had taken this in the conditions we had last night I would still be there in a thick coating of clear ice, frozen in time and space.

Feeling like I can't bring all the needy critters in the house (it's not an ark) I try and feed them outside. This little guy was thanking me for breakfast the other day and held still long enough for me to take his picture. In trying to take bird pictures I leaned that they hold still for less than one second unless they are nearly dead.

Meanwhile, back at the barn, our former "barn kid" stopped by for a Christmas visit today. She was our chubby little nine year old neighbor when she came over wanting to learn about horses. She is now a beautiful college sophomore and will be working at a therapeutic riding center near Duluth this summer. She had to waitress last year and didn't think much of it. Customer, " There's a brown spot on this lettuce leaf." BK (barn kid), "then don't eat that one." Customer, "My coffee is cold." BK, "then drink it faster." She didn't actually say those things, but really wanted to. I am guessing the customer didn't realize the only things you can count on being green around here are spruce needles and nothing short of a forest fire can stay hot for very long in this climate. 

Earlier in the day on Christmas eve I got a delivery in the mail that really made my day. It was my own personal copy of "Trousering Your Weasel" by the famous blogger and former carrier of the U.S. mail Murr Brewster. It is as awesome as her blog. In fact it is a collection of her blog with illustrations and stuff. My toque is off to Murr for the effort. I was reading it on the sofa, but the bathroom, or bedroom, or even a closet would be an appropriate place to read it. Such a way with words that woman has and her husband Dave, well he is a man of great tolerance and good humor. I salute him!. Buy the book! you won't regret it!

That was brought to you by the Shameless Commerce Department.

Unless your world ended a few days ago, Happy Holidays!

What a difference a day makes.

Even my attitude has improved with the new snow. I put the critter cam back out in the woods not far from the house and just as I started to head back I heard a low mournful howl. I heard the neighbors' huskies earlier and it took a moment to register that it was no dog I was hearing. I would guess it was about 1/4 to 1/2 half mile away in a different direction than where people are. The new fallen snow had put a muffle on any extraneous noise. Always nice to hear our neighbor wolves. This is the view from the deck this afternoon. It is still snowing lightly. This part of the deck has been cleared twice

Of course, when you get new snow you have to remove it from places that you might want to be. The temperature was just a bit below freezing and there was no wind so Stitch put on a hat and some crocs and went out in her jammies to clear the deck. Gotta love these northern women!

Her cat, Beevis the Butthead wanted to go out and watch the birds. He realized that the snow might make him damp and his toes might get a little chilled so he found a good place to watch. He is near a pair of ceramic boots, so the title of the picture is Puss and Boots.

While the sun never showed its smiling face again today, at least the blanket of white will reflect any available light and that should make morning and evening chores a little more pleasant.

After a little time in the Great Outdoors I come into the house where Stitch and the Cooker are putting up the Christmas desecrations. This is a family affair and everyone wants to contribute. Bella the cat is doing her holiday impression of Judy Garland.

I think I'll just stay out of the way and be entertained by the troops.