Saturday Slight

 

I fed the horses their breakfast in the barn this morning.

It was probably a wise and safe decision. 

Wind gusts were erupting with ferocious intensity and a tarp covering a stack of hay was slapping violently back and forth against the bales.  

Twas a noisy and scary event in the semi darkness under the lean to next to our shop. 

The tarp and its hay stack are also located right next to the route on which I lead the horses from the barnyard to their first pasture each morning. 

Maybe I don't want to do that this morning, I thought.  Maybe the horses are better off eating their breakfast in the barn.

So, that decision didn't take much time.  

After feeding Lily, Lefty and CB their hay, I walked over to the hay stack and grabbed the end of a piece of twine which had been holding the tarp down.

Immediately, the twine slipped from my hand and blew out of my reach. 

So, with the next wind crescendo sending that part of the tarp back my way, I grabbed again, this time holding it as firmly as possible and urging it underneath some twine securing a bale in the stack.

It took some time with my big fat glove fingers, but eventually I managed to maneuver the string underneath its secured partner.

I wrapped the tarp tether several times and finally tied it into a knot. 

With this band aide approach in the morning darkness, only about one fourth of the tarp was threatening to blow away, and the hay cover was making a lot less noise. 

The wind seems to be subsiding as I type.  Bill and I agreed that overnight it did not seem as intense as the forecasters had suggested.  Then, again, the maps indicated that we are geographically on the edge of the wildest and woolliest of wind events overnight. 

For that, we are thankful. We are also thrilled to see that most of the white slop which fell from the sky has disappeared.  

I loved seeing the stars twinkling in the sky this morning after a long and dismal Friday. 

While the mess was building up outside, I spent several hours inside adding to my applesauce collection.  Looks like we'll have enough to make it through the next several months. 

Occasionally, I went outside for brief periods and tried to find some beauty in the ugly, sloppy day.  

And, by golly, it was to be found with sugar-like coatings on shrubs and buds.  

The poplar tree along the driveway cut quite a picture with its layers of limbs uncharacteristically pointing out and downward.

Our grand and glorious oak tree, which has commanded so much attention and awe throughout the fall, was weighted down so much that some limbs touched the sloppy wet ground. 

Quite an introduction to winter, to say the least.  

My thoughts now that I've survived the first day:  a winter day can't get any uglier than yesterday, so no matter how severe, we're guaranteed better days ahead. 

And, to top that off, we have only four months and about 30 more days to search for the silver linings of winter. 

Speaking of countdowns, happily, we have only three more days of listening to Tiffany Smiley and Patty Murray and Mike Crapo and Mitch McConnell's ghost and others who have dominated  every aspect of regional television air space. 

On a positive note, our land-line phones have been pretty quiet during this election cycle. 

No 90-second messages of "blah, blah, blah, blah" which can only be squelched if you unplug the phone.

Nowadays, it's just "CLICK!" 

I'm wondering if those 24 clicks among the 25 recorded "messages" on my answering machine are reflecting a new trend in campaign strategies. 

If the people at that number don't answer, don't waste your breath telling them all the gory details about the evil demon you or your candidate are trying to eradicate from political circles forever. 

Click!  

That's it, and you're done with that number until you call it the next time.

And, if you're on the receiving end of those calls, like I am, and you hear that emphatic "click" minus all the verbal garbage that you never cared to hear in the first place, that's beautiful music to your campaign weary ears.

Won't it be nice when Tuesday is over and the next campaign ugliness starts anew. 

I'm beginning to believe that political campaigns and all their ugly layers have turned into an eternal blight on our country. 

Almost as bad as winter. 

Happy Saturday.