Relative Something

After all that fussing we did about covering Mia, and her not wanting our help, it appears our fears over her fragility were unfounded. She has fared the storm looking totally in control. Through wet snow, then blown snow, and finally, bitter cold, Mia coped just fine and looks no worse for wear.

A toppled and snow-packed birdhouse currently out of service.

Our ATV, on the other hand, has failed to start since I parked it in the middle of the storm after clearing a rudimentary path from the road to Cyndie’s side of our house garage. I will try again when it has warmed up significantly to see if anything changes.

I have never enjoyed battling gas engines, and as a result, my troubleshooting skills are minimal when they fail. My primary methods involve trying the same thing over and over, hoping for different results.

Without that to plow, and my resistance to cranking up the big diesel tractor to clear a little snow that will soon melt, we have resorted to hand shoveling a large amount of snow, while leaving other significant areas to (hopefully) melt quickly in the coming days.

Yesterday, Cyndie took a heroic turn clearing the snow from in front of my side of the house garage while I worked to shovel a wide path to the propane tank. The level has dropped below the trigger point to order a fill, and the dispatcher put us on the schedule for the next time a truck is in the area. Based on past occurrences, it won’t be a long wait.

The forecast teases that temperatures will be above freezing today and stay there for four consecutive days, ultimately reaching the low 60s (F) by Saturday. It is our hope that further shoveling will be unnecessary as a result.

Those rain sheets will come off the three horses today, and we will prepare for the paddocks to become mud-sasters for the foreseeable future. It has become obvious that to regain the solid base we had years ago, a new layer of lime screenings should be applied.

That’s a project that requires more oomph than either of us is feeling inspired to muster at this time. As long as there remain a few spots where the horses can get relief from standing in deep mud, we can get away with delaying doing anything about the issue. It becomes a mental health exercise for me to practice not constantly ruminating about it in the meantime.

Here’s to a quick meltdown across the land. It’s time for the snow to go.

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