Archive for the ‘Chronicle’ Category
A Thursday
There was an unexpected Asher adventure as we were about to feed the horses yesterday morning, involving a raccoon. While Cyndie and I were focused on the usual chores, Asher vanished without our noticing. His telltale, excited barking in the distance instantly grabbed our attention.
Cyndie stopped what she was doing and hustled in the direction of the hay shed. In the perennial garden just beyond the shed, she found Asher and the raccoon in conflict with each other. I stayed with the horses, trying to pretend that nothing out of the ordinary was going on, despite the angry noises coming from the raccoon.
She reported that Asher had the butt end of the still-complaining raccoon in his mouth and took off running when she showed up. When she caught up to him again, across the road at the end of our driveway, she said he was in the process of burying the no longer living critter.
I don’t remember seeing coon hound in the 18 breeds identified in his DNA.
Our neighbor just south of us was pleased to hear he has some help in controlling the population of nuisance wildlife. When Cyndie stopped by to deliver some Christmas cookies, he told her he had dispatched 19 possums and 25 raccoons this year.
It’s comforting to know that we may have gained some tolerance for occasions when Asher might wander onto their property, now that he’s seen as contributing to pest control in the area.
After a couple of days above freezing, we are facing another Winter Weather Advisory from the National Weather Service, which predicts light snow, wind as high as 40-50 mph, and icy flash freezing conditions. Needless to say, the horse blankets are back on.
Mia needs the added protection more than the others, but she was the most uncooperative about letting us cover her up. She doesn’t grow as thick a winter coat and ends up shivering more quickly than the others, so one would think she’d welcome the blanket.
Instead of chasing her around in an attempt to force compliance, we are inclined to patiently invite her to come to us as we stand holding the blanket. Since they were all eating from their feed buckets while we were putting the blankets on, that just meant standing close to her bucket, and eventually she stayed put while we covered her up and hooked up all the clasps.
I have every confidence that they understand why we are covering them up again. We also move hay nets from out on fence posts to up underneath the overhang. Since we only do these things during periods of stormy weather and always return things to normal afterwards, I believe they read the signals and accept the changes without unwarranted stress.
Lousy weather is stressful enough on its own, especially when high winds are involved. The Weather Service is tossing out phrases like “a conveyor belt of Aleutian low-pressure systems” and “atmospheric rivers.”
To us, it just seems like a Thursday.
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Welcome Distractions
Yesterday was a day when I wouldn’t have had a clue our government was churning towards a fascist dictatorship if I hadn’t read an accounting of the pertinent details. Laid out the way they were, it seemed pretty obvious.
But my day started with a visit from the farrier before I had even completed the morning chores. It took a lot of energy to coax Asher away from all the scents on the farrier’s tools to get the dog up to the house for his feeding.
Just as had happened the day before, with the Nutritionist reporting that the horses were in excellent condition, the farrier said their hooves were looking really good. The winter growth has slowed enough that the next trimming appointment wasn’t even scheduled. In the summer, we might see him every 6 weeks. It may be more than 10 weeks during the winter.
Maddy gave the horses their dewormer dosage, and so they are now up to date on all their health issues. I think we are more thrilled over the milestone than the horses. They stood really well for the farrier, making the process a relative breeze.
It didn’t hurt that the weather was headed toward a big thaw. It was the first time the temperature rose above the 32°F freezing point since the winter-like cold arrived, and it shot well past that into the mid-40s.
My day ended with an evening of catching up with guys I went to high school with at a brewery in our old hometown.
It’s an annual December ritual that relies on a core of a handful of regulars, plus each year a bonus of a few rare sightings that surprise us by showing up. I think it’s a good exercise, though I am aware it’s not for everyone. Some folks have no interest in revisiting their past. I enjoy it greatly.
Thinking about the days of my youth is more pleasant than examining the sad state of our crumbling democracy. Hanging out with the horses and hanging with the guys yesterday distracted me from how bad things continue to get in this once-great country of ours.
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Hay Challenges
It wasn’t supposed to be complicated. Hay to feed the horses is supplied by This Old Horse, and it is up to their managers to procure the bales from anywhere they can. Our liaison, Maddy, checked with the previous farmer who delivered to us, but he was out of grass hay.
She found another source who delivered 85 bales yesterday. An hour after we’d stacked it in the hay shed, the Nutritionist arrived to check on the condition of the horses. She was following up after having switched the horses’ feed from grains to processed pellets of Senior Feed last summer.
The good news is that she found all the horses are doing very well since the diet change. The bad news is that she didn’t like the looks of the new hay bales at all. Her concern is that the nutritional quality of the new hay looks so poor that feeding them this at this time of year will leave them short of their daily needs.
That leaves poor Maddy in the difficult position of needing to find another source and figure out what to do with the 85 bales now in our shed.
Just to mess up the day a little more after that, the farrier was running behind and asked to move our appointment from the afternoon to first thing this morning.
One bright spot I particularly enjoyed during the Nutritionist’s visit was the surprisingly social demonstration by the horses as we stood in the paddock and talked over their body condition scoring. All four horses brought their heads together around us, peeking over our shoulders and standing close without issue for an uncharacteristic amount of time.
Eventually, Mix brought things back to normal by getting snippy with Mia, forcing her to move away, which prompted the rest of us to break our little huddle. It didn’t spoil how precious it was to see the horses being so present in the moment together and tuned in with us as we chatted.
It was a nice exclamation point on the fact that their body condition scores were ideal for their ages. It means a lot to us that they not only look good physically, but their behaviors reflect that they are doing pretty well emotionally, too.
Now, if we could find a way to give them some better hay to eat this winter, that would be just grand.
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Cookies Aplenty
The morning after Cyndie’s two days of unadulterated Christmas cookie baking dawns with the results neatly packaged for distribution.
My blood sugar is probably still out of whack after sampling way too many varieties over the weekend. Niece, Althea, and son, Julian, showed up to contribute their energies to the effort yesterday, keeping the festive feeling in full swing.
The head baker decided to repackage the entire inventory before beginning the extra effort of cleaning up a mess that a multi-day baking extravaganza creates.
With that epic effort behind her, it’s out of the kitchen and into the horse chores. Our schedule got doubled up today with a planned visit from the farrier happening on the same day as an unexpected delivery of hay bales that will need to be stacked in the shed.
There will be no rest for the weary.
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Like Dad
Baby, it’s cold outside. The horses had frosty whiskers this morning, to rival all the other deep-freeze overnight lows they’ve endured in their time with us.
While the air was exceedingly crisp outside, the house was toastier than Santa’s workshop with Cyndie’s Christmas Cookie-palooza, Day 1, in full swing. The double oven was working overtime to keep up with all the delectible treats Cyndie and her team of guests were moving through it. The post-bake decorating station was a spectacle this year, with frostings and sprinkles applied to the wafting sounds of a unique mix of Christmas music, courtesy of some algorithm at Apple Music.
Since I was in charge of keeping the fire fed in the fireplace and the dog’s nose pointed anywhere other than at foodstuffs, I let the whole operation pass without taking a single photo. I apologize. That was a total lapse of thinking on my part. I did get a shot of some behind-the-scenes aftermath, though.
I stopped by the kitchen to take a photo of a recent success on my part that had me thinking of my dad. A little of his mechanical ingenuity and DIY solutions were passed to me, along with his exceptional ability to tolerate unfinished projects.
For some 10 or 12 years, Cyndie has begrudgingly lived with a problematic corner cabinet that has a pair of lazy susan shelves where we store pots and pans. When it would get stuck, I assumed it was because pan handles weren’t being oriented logically, or it was being overstuffed. When it became stiff, a confident nudge from my foot would close it just fine.
When the shelves finally collapsed from the top and bottom brackets two days ago, I was forced to figure out how it was supposed to work. How the heck did they install it in the first place? Oh, there are adjustment screws. Hmm.
I discovered there was a detent in the plastic top piece that was supposed to match the springy metal brace. Imagine that.
A Philips screwdriver, ten minutes of puttering with adjustments, and we had a perfectly functioning lazy susan corner cabinet. I could have done that years ago. I suppose Cyndie wouldn’t be quite as thrilled with the results if it hadn’t been an ongoing nuisance for a decade.
The quick fix had me feeling chuffed. Figuring out how it was supposed to work reminded me of my dad’s keen skills in that realm. Realizing I had let something go for years without properly solving it dampened my pride and reminded me that I inherited both good and bad traits from that wonderful, complex, ingenious, troubled man that I both looked up to and feared in the years we were both alive.
I think Dad would have approved of the way I fixed that corner lazy susan by figuring out the way it was intended to work.
I’m going to focus on that and not on how long it took for me to get around to it.
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More Munching
One of the many benefits of snow cover is being able to see where the horses have been overnight. While the paddocks will become completely trampled in a matter of days, even though closed gates don’t confine the horses, it takes a lot longer for the pastures to see a lot of traffic.
One or two loops will appear at first, revealing someone’s initial curiosity. The fresh snow allows us to observe how the traffic pattern evolves as the days pass.
While I was enjoying more of the calming aura of the horses munching their feed this morning, I witnessed a pleasing exchange between Mia and Swings. Mia has always been the fastest eater among the four. We used to think that was because she was the lowest on their pecking order and needed to finish before another horse chased her off her food so they could have it.
Maybe it has become her habit, because they all tend to stay put for the most part now, but she still eats fast. Mia was also good at coming around later and cleaning up scraps that had been dropped. Putting those two things together, she now seems to be establishing a relationship with Swings to eat off her placemat while Swings is still there eating from her bucket.
As I watched it unfold this morning, Mia approached tentatively, and Swings’ first response was to pin her ears back to fend Mia off. Mia then waited a minute, as if negotiating permission. My brain picked up a sense of Mia communicating, “You don’t really mean that…”
Then Mia meekly began nibbling away at the pellets dropped on the mat.
Every so often, Swings picks up her head while chewing, and Mia quickly does the same, in case she is going to be chastised. When no aggression is displayed, Mia checks in by putting her nose close to Swings, and then they both go back to heads-down eating again.
It’s a treat to see them growing a more observable bond. Swings never used to tolerate having Mia in her personal space.
I think Mia is showing increasing confidence with all the others (and us, too), as well as Swings is softening her boundaries more.
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Horses Munching
And another thing. I loathe that it’s Russia that has played such a significant role in the collapse of our democracy through its command over our Kleptocrat-in-Chief, using kompromat, disinformation campaigns, cyberattacks, and social media manipulation to sow discord among the American public.
Even more, I am miserable over the fact that so many were gullible enough to be duped by it all and/or so racist as to support all the despicable things that have occurred in the time since you-know-who first rallied the MAGA hordes.
And that’s all I’m going to say about that.
For much of my life, I have been aware of being triggered by the sound of someone eating in an otherwise silent environment. My body responds with an incredible blast of intolerance that can be a challenge to control. Misophonia is the term for the disorder. (Siblings: remember how our sister Linda reacted to teeth scraping on our forks?) Anyway, in a curious contrast, the sound of our horses eating is almost magical in the way it soothes me. How does that work?
Listening to them all munching away is one of my favorite experiences. I captured a shot of each of them last night.
I had to include the shot of Mix looking to see what the heck I was up to before she went back to eating because it makes me smile. Maybe she was asking me why she was the last one to be photographed. Can you hear them in your minds, happily chomping away?
These photos give you a good view of how our “placemats” serve to keep their spillage up off the dust and dirt for smacking up after the buckets are empty. Mia is eating some of what she drops in the snow. She tends to step out and scan the surroundings while chewing.
The other day, while they were eating and I was still scooping up manure around them, I noticed Mia had planted one of her back feet on top of a pile. I scraped up everything around that one hoof and kept watching for her to change her stance so I could scoop up that last bit she mashed.
Every time she turned to look away as she chewed, she only moved her front feet. I’d never paid that close of attention to her feet for that long before, so this was surprising to me. I bet she did that about ten times while I was cleaning the rest of the immediate area. It wasn’t until she finished eating and walked away that she finally picked up that back foot.
I’m pretty certain there is a high probability she was just messing with me.
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Our Comeuppance
There isn’t a vast amount of international perspective that I can refer to from my limited travels to other countries of the world, but I believe it’s been enough for me to understand that my home country doesn’t deserve to boast about our democracy as if it is the beacon of greatness above all others.
In fact, I have come to believe that our form of government is proving to be a failure. Our democracy isn’t working. Voting for individuals to represent us is supposed to give power to THE PEOPLE. If the majority of people in this country don’t want our government to bomb boats or commandeer oil tankers from Venezuela, our representatives should have sway in the actions of the current administration.
If we don’t want ICE agents to wear masks and travel in packs, driving in unmarked vehicles to nab citizens off the streets without legitimate charges or warrants, THE PEOPLE should be able to persuade our elected officials to adhere to our laws.
Judges on the Supreme Court should be ethical and unbiased. When it becomes obvious they are not, THE PEOPLE should have a way to ensure that our government officials in each branch are being held accountable.
I admit that I once thought our democracy was better than most of the governments in the world. I’m embarrassed that I thought poorly of populations that allowed atrocities to occur by their leaders, or corruption to run rampant in their systems of governance.
Well, I now can understand it when people around the world feel the citizens of the United States are responsible for the inappropriate actions of our government. We thought we could rely on the checks and balances of our form of democracy to keep the wishes of THE PEOPLE in place. I’m afraid it’s not working.
We, the people, have made this mess. It appears we are getting some comeuppance.
At least my ATV and plow are working well again. We probably gained 6 or 7 inches of new snow from the last system. There was no evidence of my boot tracks from Tuesday night on the driveway yesterday morning.
That’s my path through the new snow upon returning from the barn after feeding the horses. After plowing the driveway, I moved to pulling snow off the roof in the two problem spots. While shoveling away the mess that had been created on our front steps, Cyndie texted that we would be receiving feed for the horses in around half an hour.
That meant I needed to switch focus and get down to the barn to dig out the big doors and slide them open. One of the doors wouldn’t budge. It took some creative persuasion to eventually bust it free, and I got it done just in time to see the huge red Gertens Garden Center truck coming up the driveway.
I had tried to plow that circle around the hay shed extra wide in advance of a hay delivery sometime in the near future. I wasn’t thinking of the feed delivery. The last few times, the driver parked on the road and drove his forklift up the driveway. The driver yesterday had never been here before. He decided to back out to the road and bring it up on the forklift.
He wasn’t confident that the big truck wouldn’t slide sideways. I’m happy he chose the safer option.
I’m feeling a lot less cocky about everything these days.
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Winter Wonderland
Well, it looks like we got the upper end of the predicted snowfall depth range. I know what I’ll be doing all day today. We postponed a lunch date so we can focus on clearing snow around here and avoid dodging snowplows clearing the rural roads.
Asher is in his glory over all the snow.
“Are we going outside yet?”
“How ‘bout now?”
We envy him his natural coat that allows immediate departure into the elements. He waits (mostly) patiently for us to don all our gear. When the door opens, and he hears permission granted, he bolts through it and leaps off the steps to race into the snow.
His favorite yard toys are Jolly Balls with rope strung through the middle of them. I guess the appeal is that he can both chase after it when we’ve heaved it as far as we can, and he can entice us into a battle of tug-of-war when he brings it back.
While we were out on a morning walk, before the snowstorm reached us, I spotted a single snowflake floating down out of the sky, triggering these curiosities:
- Does this also happen in the summer? Are there ever single raindrops that drop out of a cloud?
- Is it atypical for one snowflake or one raindrop to fall before any others in a precipitation event?
Eventually, a lot of flakes were falling at the same time.
With the base layer already in place, this new snow is going to make it look like a winter wonderland around here. I will need to wear snowshoes to pack down a path for walking Asher on all of our trails.
In the short time I was down at the barn feeding the horses in the afternoon, my bootprints on the driveway provided a reference for how fast the snow was accumulating.
I suspect those will be barely noticeable this morning. When Cyndie took Asher out for one last pee before bedtime, it was hard for her to push the storm door open against the snow piling up.
That tells me I’ll have my work cut out for me plowing it all.
This will not be one of the winters with concerns about whether or not we will have a white Christmas.
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Fast December
Does anyone else feel like the first week of December has passed in a blink? I’m going to need to start planning my decorations for Valentine’s Day soon. I’m not sure I can remember where my red hearts sweater is stashed. I’ll need to dig it out for all the Valentine’s Day celebrations people will be hosting.
Of course, I jest. February is too far over the horizon today. I’m busy getting ready for New Year’s Day. Meanwhile, Cyndie is getting a head start on some of her holiday treat-making for December festivities.
Cookies aren’t far behind.
I’m biding my time until the weekend bake-athon by working hard to stay awake while trying to finish reading a Bruce Springsteen biography, walking Asher through the snow –which he is absolutely loving– watching big matchups between NCAA & NFL teams in US football (Indiana winning the Big Ten Championship!), and taking photos of scenes that catch my eye.
How about those shadow patterns in the snow on the back deck? Cool, eh?
Today is primed to deliver a fresh batch of flakes if the predictions prove accurate.
…POTENTIAL FOR HEAVY, ACCUMULATING SNOW AND VERY GUSTY WINDS FROM CENTRAL MINNESOTA TO WESTERN WISCONSIN TUESDAY AFTERNOON THROUGH TUESDAY NIGHT…
The forecast map last night placed us in a band indicating a span of possibilities from 1-5 inches. That’s a pretty safe range for them to predict without being wrong, but as they often add, advisory zones may shift as the system advances. We could get more, we could get less.
At least I’ve got the ATV plow finally set up correctly and ready to face the task at hand. If I end up spending a few days clearing snow, I expect to check the calendar and find we are suddenly just hours away from Christmas.
December is flying by in a flash! Make sure you are staying off the naughty list!
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Relative Something 