Archive for December 2013
From Elysa
(While we were at the lake, our daughter, Elysa, was home running the ranch. That was blessing enough, but she has gone beyond the call of duty and has also written a guest post for us, too! The photos are both taken by her, as well. Thanks a million, E!)
I was in charge of the ranch over the weekend, and I’m happy to report that it went well despite my parents’ absence!
Saturday morning was as beautiful at Wintervale as it was reported up in Hayward with the long crystals of frost covering every surface. As I walked down the driveway toward the barn, the sunrise lit up over the snow and glistened on the frost. It was breathtaking! However, I tend to find myself lost in the moment without any camera most of the time. I went back to the house after feeding the horses to grab my phone for some quick photos while getting in a walk for Delilah. My dad posts wonderful scenes at Wintervale here on the blog, but they just cannot compare to the experience of viewing it all in person. Luckily, I had the opportunity to watch both sunrise and sunset when I went to feed the horses each day.
While the horses ate at dawn, the dog was up even earlier than that. Working on farm-time was a bit of an adjustment for me. I was getting up almost four hours earlier than usual. Delilah was a delightful challenge (most of the time). She got me up early, kept me busy all day, and gave me a whole set of reasons to be skeptical of her doggie kisses, seeing what she puts in her mouth. She also got caught chewing one of her toys to shreds on multiple occasions (covering herself and her surroundings with bits of batting and leftover squeakers) and trying to sneak small branches into the house. 
To give her some credit, she did let me “sleep in” until 7am on Monday and later spent some time quietly cuddling her favorite toys. I definitely have a new respect for all the work my parents are doing each and every day!
I’d have to say caring for the rest of the animals was easier than the demands of the dog. The horses probably noticed that I wasn’t that good at putting out their hay without showering myself in it. I found myself picking out bits and pieces of hay from my hair and clothes for a while after each feeding. The cats were pleasant roommates. Mozyr snuggled up next to me through one of the cold nights. Pequenita was an instigator of over-excitement as she taunted the dog time and again. Though it was challenging at times, the farm life has been a welcome experience to balance my everyday life in the Twin Cities.
Many thanks to my parents for sharing it all with me as they build their Wintervale wonderland! I’m so glad they could take a break and enjoy their stay at the cabin. (So are we. Thanks, Elysa!)
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Another Igloo
When you take on a project like building an igloo, there is a bit of a compulsion that sets in, driving you to somehow succeed despite any number of pitfalls that may arise. I have witnessed it several times, both in myself and also in the friends and family that I have enlisted to help me over the years.
One year, we didn’t tilt the walls inward enough during the setting of the first few rows of blocks, and it ended up getting taller than we could handle. That one ended up becoming a 2-room igloo, because we needed to build a wall across the middle in order to hold the top pieces that were getting out of reach.
I have learned that it helps to have an architect on your crew. This year, I was inspired to involve our friends from Guatemala, the Morales family, in building an igloo, and as luck would have it, Marco is an architect. He understands the shape of the catenary curve that we try to achieve with the Grand Shelter’s Icebox igloo frame.
I am far short of being able to boast any substantial skill in actually completing a full igloo with the Icebox frame, but I have started plenty, and closed a few of them with some unspecified techniques. Yesterday’s fits right in with the rest, except it also happens to be the largest igloo I have ever tried to build.
Marco says to “go big” and so we did. Day-1 was a smashing success, with the snow becoming sticky enough in the temps near freezing, but day-2 became more difficult as the weather turned extremely cold. After a number of blocks failed when we approached the top rows which lean in dramatically, we decided to abandon the Icebox fixture altogether and venture out to our own designs.
We tried a couple of ideas, and eventually ended up using branches as support for the last few blocks. It was so tall, some of the blocks ended up being at the limits of our reach. I decided that the Inuit people would probably have used branches, too, if they had them. It does sort of add a Native look to it, in my eyes.
Marco said we moved into a bit of a Mayan arch technique at the end. After showering some snow across the top to fill in the gaps, we had the effect of an igloo with a bit of a hairdo. Most importantly, we had finished what we set out to do, which was no small feat, with the primary builder being from Guatemala and his having to work in extreme bitter cold.
It was an effort and a result for which we can both be proud.
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Ideal Day
Yesterday we experienced a perfect northern winter day. We were told that there is more snow up here at our lake place now than this region has received during December in over 20 years. Making the deep snow even more spectacular, it had gotten foggy overnight and the moisture was forming long whisker crystals of ice on every surface. The landscape was flocked in a silvery white sheen. The scenery was storybook perfect. I don’t think we could have provided our guests with a better winter experience than what this weather allowed.
The temperature was hovering near the freezing point when we ventured out into the deep snow to play. First order of business was creating a sledding path down the hill onto the lake. 
At the bottom, the boys put a “turn” (what has become our code word for: jump) which worked better and better as the day went on.
Then we started work on building an igloo with my framing device. At the same time, shoveling began to create a small rink for boot hockey. Cyndie and Dunia passed by on snowshoes, and after returning from a long adventure, they initiated rolling snow into large boulders. Soon, the classic form of a snowman appeared, adorned with a scarf and carrot nose.
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Marco’s Pictures
I can’t say enough about what a wonderful fit our two families are, the Morales family from Guatemala and Cyndie and me. We are having a blast together. Also, I am particularly pleased to have access to pictures Marco has been taking. He zoomed in close on Legacy’s eye and captured a reflection of himself, and Dunia and me.
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We are up at the lake place this morning, after driving up yesterday. When we arrived and pulled into the driveway, Cyndie and I decided to give them a tour of the community property before pulling up to our home. As we arrived near the tennis court, I was about to point out the huge pine tree towering over the court where the eagle nest has been in years past. I was cut short by my own exclamation, “There’s an eagle!”
The sun had just set and the light was low, but Marco hopped out of the truck with his camera and attempted to get a picture. Later, as we were reviewing his shots on the computer, we learned the eagle wasn’t facing away from us like we had all 
believed. Though almost out of range, and behind some branches that claimed the actual focus, there was a surprising reflection of two eyes and a hint of the color of his beak.
He had been staring at us the whole time, when all the while we thought he was looking the other way.
Thank you to Marco Morales for sharing these fun images with me for use in the blog!
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Lovely Lips
It looks like Legacy has tried to apply some red lipstick, but it is just the result of what we have come to call our “horse-sicles.” Cyndie found a recipe that involves cutting up fruit, carrots, and celery and putting it in sugar-water that has some food coloring added, and then freezing it.
The first time we set some out, they gobbled them up overnight, and we didn’t have much chance to witness them enjoying the treats, so we have been saving the last two for a time when we could hang around and watch. Legacy was the only one inside the paddocks when we showed up, and the three chestnuts were happy where they were at in the big field, so he got first shot at the fruity-sweet popsicles all by himself.
We pulled up chairs and spent a little time lounging in the bright winter daylight of the cloudy afternoon, amid sprinkles of light falling snowflakes, and watched Legs savor the sweetness.
Earlier in the day, we had taken all 4 horses out at the same time for a walk through our woods. It is the first time since the horses arrived here that we have had enough experienced horse handlers available to do this. It was a challenge to walk in the snow, but the horses all behaved well and nobody got spooked, which is a testament to the handlers all remaining calm and projecting a confidence that communicated everything was safe and under control.
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I was the least experienced one of the bunch, and after leading Legacy out, Cyndie switched me off to get some pictures of everyone, and Jose took over the lead with Legs, Cyndie was with Hunter, Marco Sr. had Cayenne, and Dunia walked with Dezirea. After a switch, I ended up with Hunter and was able to experience the cooperative communication of being in charge of such a large animal who could easily toss me aside and do what he pleases.
After heading toward the labyrinth and then doing a loop through the woods, we strolled past Delilah’s kennel and she quietly and (mostly) calmly stood at her door watching the parade pass by. We then headed back down the hill and returned to the big field where we removed their harnesses after the gate was latched. Three of the four then proceeded to lay down and roll in the snow for a little bath.
We enjoyed a spectacular winter day with the horses, continuing to fulfill visions we had when news first arrived that the Morales family could come from Guatemala to visit us here over the holidays. We are feeling truly and richly blessed!
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Snow Fun
‘Twas the day after Christmas and all through the house… (speaking in my silly vernacular) we is sleeping in and recovering from the hardships of non-stop eating, visiting, and all the frivolity of holiday celebrations with friends and extended family. We had plenty of Christmas snowfall, which gave me an opportunity to go out and play with the Griz. While my camera has been out for repair, I have been blessed to have others supplying me with pictures to post here.
With that, I want to give credit for yesterday’s picture, because I failed to note that I did not take it. That beautiful image of our horses was taken by our friend from Guatemala, Marco Morales. He has a good skill of capturing images. While we were out clearing snow, I asked if he if he would take a picture of me plowing.
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Doesn’t it look like fun?!
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Disrupted Normalcy
What routine? My days have become a blur of disrupted normalcy. Of course, on the one hand, that is a fantastic blessing. On the other, it means doing my daily writing has become a challenge of stealing time from either sleep, or choosing to miss out on some of my favorite time lounging by the fire with the precious souls currently sharing our home. Add to that, the occasion of Christmas and all the scheduled events related to it, and I’m finding it hard to even remember what all my normal daily activities were.
I hope bills are getting paid. What day is it again?
I am even without my camera, which is usually in one of my pockets to help me capture glimpses of my days. Although I still have my phone for taking pictures, it doesn’t work as well for me, and I often forget that I even have it. It’s curious that I tend to remember when I have my camera, but never seem to think about the phone which is always with me. Happily, I have received notice that my camera has shipped from the repair facility, so it will soon be back in my hands.
I wished I had it with me the other day when I spotted a pair of Pileated Woodpeckers outside our front porch. I was able to get the attention of everyone in the house in time for them to see at least one of the two before they flew away into the woods. That was a real treat. I did what I could to capture them with my phone, and I’ve marked up the image to help you spot them.
Our weather seems to be stuck in a pattern of light snowfall, just enough to be a nuisance, but not enough to make significant impact, and temperatures that bounce from the relative warmth of near-freezing down to serious levels of cold below zero (F).
There has been a lot of transposing between Fahrenheit and Celsius around here lately. I have been telling everyone that if it gets cold enough it won’t matter. The two scales cross over at -40° so the reading is the same in both at that temperature.
It would certainly be abnormal for it to get that cold, but it would be fitting, since not normal has become my new normal around here lately. We are loving every crazy minute. We are richly blessed this Christmas.
We hope those of you reading here will find your own blessings revealed in the days ahead! Christmas eve is a magical time.
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Big Drama
You just never know what adventure lies around the next corner. Yesterday, our plan was relatively straight forward, but it was a full day and included a couple of events that required we adhere to a precise start time. Cyndie began the morning in the kitchen, whipping up her now-famous caramel rolls and a variety of quiche dishes, plus a mountain of fresh-cut fruit for a brunch.
We weren’t sure how many guests would show since Cyndie offered open invitations to a wide range of friends, families and acquaintances, and it gets a bit unnerving when the appointed time arrives and nobody has shown. It so happened that there was a fair amount of snow falling in the Twin Cities at the time people were trying to drive, which slowed them down a bit. Our guests from Guatemala had spent the night with another family they know in town, after having gone skiing and snowboarding at Afton Alps ski resort the day before, so we were also hoping they would make it back in time.
In a blink, after our son and his girlfriend arrived, the house was filled and buzzing with the energy of twenty-some people who came to share in the brunch and then head to a nearby farm for a sleigh ride. 
Everything seemed to be moving along perfectly when we arrived to see the horses all decked out in their special colors for our festive event. Our group was larger than could fit on the sleigh all at once, so we put most of the kids on bales of hay and off they went, the bells on the horses jingling.
The rest of us were milling about the farm, checking out the ducks, chickens, goats, sheep, and horses. As we wandered back toward the direction we expected the sleigh to be returning from, I spotted the horses moving at a pretty good clip as they came around the house. I was excited to see that they were running and thought the kids must be having a thrill, …but there were no kids.
There was no driver either. Then we spotted the sled was not sitting properly on top of the runners and was dragging behind in the snow. The horses came to a calm stop as they arrived in front of the house, belying the drama that we assume must have just unfolded. We were all alarmed, and fighting the urge to fear the worst, but we knew there was every possibility that our kids might have suffered a serious calamity.
Luckily, just bumps and bruises and one little scraped nose, but I fear that the real harm was psychological. Some of the group seemed to shake it off, others may have been stuffing their true feelings, as they seemed to have no reaction. There were a couple who are old enough to know how serious the situation was, and I think they are suffering the most, as a result. For that reason, I think I am glad that I didn’t witness it. Seeing the empty sleigh return was bad enough.
We were able to bring the gang back to our home for some hot chocolate and debriefing of the excitement. There was general agreement that now the drama was over and the stories to be told for years to come would make this sleigh ride one that will never be forgotten. It was certainly not the adventure anyone expected when they showed up yesterday.
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Beautiful Fail
There is something about the pattern of that broken window that evokes a sense of a bird in the abstract. As if the window was trying to make something that didn’t quite turn out. Maybe I see it that way because it reflects a lot of my experience. I like finding art in unexpected things, and I’m finding the window is tugging at two different parts of me as a result. 
On the one hand, it is a failure that must be remedied. In that regard, it frustrates me because it is just out of my reach. I cannot just fix it here and now, on my own. It looms overhead with the ever-present threat of crashing down in a shower of glass.
On the other hand, it looks interesting. I like the spontaneous pattern that appeared, unaided. Part of me is wishing we could keep it. Of course, I am all about balance and symmetry, so I would need the window on the other side to somehow fracture, as well. Picture me trying to initiate that happening. Epic fail.
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Relative Something 