While filling the cart with wood yesterday afternoon, I kept walking past this pile of hose draped over our field harrow.
Hard to see the harrow because of the SNOW, but the hose makes its presence known.
Hard to figure just how long that hose will remain there.
Will we use the harrow or the hose first?
Right now, I don't think we'll need the hose for a long time.
One thing's for sure, though. It will be a while before people start the annual spouting off about how our forests are gonna burn down this summer because we haven't had enough SNOW pack in the mountains.
Each year presents its own dynamics with concerns about the summer hay crop, the forest fires, etc. We'll just have to wait and see what 2020 brings.
So far, this new decade has brought a lot of SNOW, which means we'll be waiting a long time before using hoses, harrows and lawnmowers.
In fact, we have so much SNOW in our yard that I'm fearing for some of our tree limbs which have been touching the ground for days.
For now, we'll just have to revel in the little victories of January.
One of the best occurs on dark mornings while feeding is the ever-growing walking area in the barnyard.
This has been gradually engineered by throwing hay flakes a short distance across the SNOW from the open area, requiring horses to tramp down another segment of deep SNOW each day.
Another victory comes when gates will open and close without the need to chip away at ice, frozen horse apples and the latest drop of SNOW.
And, a day when the SNOW plow goes by and does not send the mail box into the ditch is a winner.
My mail carrier assured me the other day that when the time comes that I no longer have six inches of new SNOW for propping up the broken half of my mailbox flag, I can just put a rubber band around my letters to send, and she'll notice.
Speaking of going to the mailbox, I really noticed this morning how NICE it was to walk on flat ground with no ice and a light, cushiony SNOWpack this morning.
I noticed this because I had just left the barnyard area where virtually every step taken presents a challenge and sometimes an unknown painful surprise, sure to turn an ankle.
Wanta feel really old?
Dress up in barn clothes, including heavy boots and try steering a cart full of hay through a barnyard mine field in the dark of dawn.
Hence, any steps taken on even ground feel almost as good as winning the lottery.
In fact, we have so much SNOW in our yard that I'm fearing for some of our tree limbs which have been touching the ground for days.
For now, we'll just have to revel in the little victories of January.
One of the best occurs on dark mornings while feeding is the ever-growing walking area in the barnyard.
This has been gradually engineered by throwing hay flakes a short distance across the SNOW from the open area, requiring horses to tramp down another segment of deep SNOW each day.
Another victory comes when gates will open and close without the need to chip away at ice, frozen horse apples and the latest drop of SNOW.
And, a day when the SNOW plow goes by and does not send the mail box into the ditch is a winner.
My mail carrier assured me the other day that when the time comes that I no longer have six inches of new SNOW for propping up the broken half of my mailbox flag, I can just put a rubber band around my letters to send, and she'll notice.
Speaking of going to the mailbox, I really noticed this morning how NICE it was to walk on flat ground with no ice and a light, cushiony SNOWpack this morning.
I noticed this because I had just left the barnyard area where virtually every step taken presents a challenge and sometimes an unknown painful surprise, sure to turn an ankle.
Wanta feel really old?
Dress up in barn clothes, including heavy boots and try steering a cart full of hay through a barnyard mine field in the dark of dawn.
Hence, any steps taken on even ground feel almost as good as winning the lottery.
After a week of intense daily weather rigors and repetitive work-related endeavors, we have definitely reached to that stage in January where, even if the month is almost two thirds over, the days of ease and leisure in of "big rock candy mountain" seems like a LONG way off.
I keep thinking about garden seeds and when I need to get serious about making sure I have enough varieties of lettuce and 'maters and if I want to start a bunch of bright red geraniums this year.
Every time I start thinking of gardening, though, I just look out the window where SNOW formations sometimes spook me cuz, upon the first glance, it feels like someone's out there looking back at me.
Upon realization that it's just another layer of SNOW mounting up on top of the bird houses, I conclude that maybe it's not quite time to be thinking about garden seeds.
So, puzzles, plucking, reading, shoveling pathways to the satellite dishes, etc. will have to suffice as we physically and mentally grind our way toward spring and the need for garden hoses.
In the meantime, my daughter, who specializes in true escapes from winters in Seattle, has gone to a land of shorts, pretty birds, snakes, alligators, undrained swamps and orange-plumed mobsters this weekend.
She's in Florida and probably, as I type, hanging out at Disneyworld in her flipflops.
Next week she'll go south on the opposite coast to do some geocaching with a friend in the desert.
She's in Florida and probably, as I type, hanging out at Disneyworld in her flipflops.
Next week she'll go south on the opposite coast to do some geocaching with a friend in the desert.
So, looking at her pictures and those of other Facebook friends will help ease the wait up here in the valleys of the big rock SNOW-filled mountains.
As for me, I'm actually doing okay so far, finding diversions and breaking up my January days with the usual work load and the excitement of occasionally sitting in a chair for a few minutes, reading a book or plucking on my ol' banjo or even watching Bulldogs from Spokane and Sandpoint win basketball games.
Happy Sunday.
Did I mention or maybe hint that we've probably had enough SNOW, thank you?
As for me, I'm actually doing okay so far, finding diversions and breaking up my January days with the usual work load and the excitement of occasionally sitting in a chair for a few minutes, reading a book or plucking on my ol' banjo or even watching Bulldogs from Spokane and Sandpoint win basketball games.
Happy Sunday.
Did I mention or maybe hint that we've probably had enough SNOW, thank you?
No comments:
Post a Comment