Archive for the ‘Chronicle’ Category
Mia Active
On a mid-morning visit to the horses during a very picturesque cloudburst of snow yesterday, I noticed Mia standing alone by the wood fence of the large paddock while the other three were up under the overhang. I decided to talk to her, calling from uphill where I was standing, inviting her and encouraging her to come up out of the snow and be with us.
She was standing with her butt towards us, but turned her head for a second to look my direction as I talked. When I turned around, Light was coming straight toward me, and I bent down to greet her, nose to nose. She paused politely for a moment, but then continued around me and went right down to stand with Mia.
Nice. While I was trying to get Mia to come to us, Light decided to meet her where she was. Works for me. I just feel bad seeing Mia looking so alone.
Next thing I know, Light is coming back, and Mia is with her! My heart swelled. I quickly grabbed some treats to show my appreciation to both of them. I took advantage of the opportunity to offer Mia a mid-day snack of Senior Feed, something the Nutritionist had suggested as an option for Mia.
I held the bucket and let Light sneak a couple of bites, too. I was enjoying seeing them being so friendly with each other.
Shortly after that rewarding interaction, Asher and I were on a walk on the far side of the back pasture, and I noticed Mia and Light walking out into the field and coming in our direction. I stopped and acknowledged Mia, thinking she might be coming all the way to be near us.
Suddenly, Light turned and bolted back to the barn, as if having been startled by something. I felt bad that it left Mia alone, but she only remained there for a second before turning and sprinting back as well. I don’t know what bothered them, but I took pleasure in seeing Mia run with such vigor.
She may not be feeling her best, but she’s certainly showing plenty of healthy signs of life.
Before Asher and I had walked much farther, I spotted both horses meandering back out into that field a second time, leaving me curious about what it was that had spooked each one, just seconds apart from each other, but happy they felt safe enough to try again.
The weather forecast includes warnings about a severe cold wave coming with temperatures lower than we’ve seen in seven years. That means colder than these horses have experienced since they’ve lived with us.
At least they are sheltered from the wind. We are crossing our fingers that we get through the Arctic conditions without any incidents for the animals or equipment.
Baby, it’s gonna get cold outside!
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Wrong Side
When we emerge from the woods to the pathway around the back pasture fence line first thing in the morning each day, it is common that we are met with a striking view of the morning sky or the fresh tracks of wildlife in the snow. The horses haven’t been traveling to the far reaches of the back pasture, so the surface is rarely disturbed, making for some beautiful winter scenes.
Yesterday morning, there was a lot of new evidence of mouse-sized critter activity in the snow.
They create fascinating veins just under the surface of the snow cover. When the air is double-digits below zero (F), I marvel that the little rodents are out and about. I suppose it speaks volumes for the insulating quality of snow.
Oftentimes, Asher ignores the obvious travel patterns as if they aren’t even there, while taking great pains to bury his nose into every hoof or paw print for a whiff of an animal’s signature. However, if there is a sound of movement under the surface, he stops on a dime, does that classic dog head tilt, and pounces on a spot.
We don’t currently have the electric fence turned on, so I didn’t fret over his intense exploration of whatever was going on beneath the blanket of snow around that post. While he was seriously occupied, I took advantage of trudging toward the barn without him, at my own pace. I’m usually working to move at double time to keep him in my line of sight.
In the time it took for him to catch up with me at the barn, I cleared my mind of what he had been up to, so it was a surprise (shouldn’t have been) when I noticed he had something in his mouth he wanted to bury. He displays a very recognizable body language when in bury-mode.
I guess there was a rodent by that post. Making our way through the barn, I opened the far door for him to hunt for a burial site. Knowing how long it takes him to decide, I figured I could leave him on his own while I tended to the horses. As soon as I distributed their feed buckets, I went to check on Asher.
There was no sign of him anywhere. I hustled down the driveway with my eyes scanning every direction. Having given a few initial shouted commands and whistle alerts, I studied the 360° of terrain silently as the sun began to appear.
In case his feet were getting cold, I returned to the house to see if he was waiting for me there. I resumed calling and used the tone and vibration on his e-collar for added encouragement. When I caught sight of him, it appeared he was responding to the signals to the best of his ability, but he was on the wrong side of the fence we had installed to teach him our property border.
Too bad there is no gate in that fence.
I had to walk a long way along that fence line, verbally commanding him to stay with me the whole way until we came to an open seam he could cross.
At least the critter wasn’t still clenched in his jaws by that time.
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Magical Thinking
The horses appeared to be unfazed yesterday morning by the Arctic conditions that have been visiting us this week. I thought the magical sun dogs were a nice touch.
A beautiful visual to remind us how cold it is, in case we forget. I didn’t forget. The combination of my breath freezing on my mustache and a persistent runny nose serves as a constant reminder.
I didn’t do a very good job of keeping my mind clear of concerns about our national chaos when I was tending to the horses, but I managed to flip it around a little bit. Don’t know if they picked up on it or not.
Without coming to an inspiring conclusion, I decided to try a mental exercise of searching for a scenario that would somehow end the sickening slide to the destruction of our democracy we are suffering. Call it magical thinking.
Is there something that could influence the people who have the authority to end the corruption to come to their senses and act in the country’s interests?
Are there economic sanctions that could be enacted by other countries to interrupt the cash flow to the profiteers fleecing anything that can be fleeced? Is there an unnoticed hero-in-the-making in the ranks of the justice system who will show up with some key piece of irrefutable evidence that will allow every guilty associate of the mob running the scheme of the puppet master (somebody owns tRump) to be stopped in their tracks and held to account?
Is there a morning when we will wake up to discover our long national nightmare is over? Most importantly for me, will it happen in my lifetime? And which actor will play me in the movie?
For those of you who enjoy the phenomenon of snow sublimation as much as I do, I decided to scrape off the inch-plus of accumulated snow on the driveway near the house in the morning. When I saw how much cleaner the asphalt was by the afternoon, I decided to clear a little more.
No melting occurs at our below-zero (F) temperatures, but the pavement dries right up.
It’s like magic!
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Order Restored
What a difference a new weather system makes. The travesty of rain-ravaged snow cover and meltwater flowing in the ditches has ended for now, replaced by frigid temperatures and two days of tiny, flying flakes of snow.
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Order has been restored as far as winter conditions are concerned. Order has also been restored regarding the rabbit population around here. After a few years of seeing very little evidence of the busy little bunnies, it appears they have succeeded in recovering their numbers.
The residual spilled senior feed around the horses’ placemats seems to be a real attraction for them. There is a rabbit super-highway from brush piles in the trees to the corner of the barn overhang.
On a walk yesterday afternoon, Asher and I came upon Light and Mia foraging together along the fenceline of the large paddock. I was happy to see Mia looking engaged and hanging out with Light. As I was spending time visiting with them, my presence attracted Mix’s attention. Soon, all four horses made their way past where I was standing into the back pasture, where Light hooked up with Swings to do a little frisky trotting around together, and Mix stayed back with Mia.
Upon our return from a stroll around the north loop, Asher and I found all four horses had moved out to the hay field and were congregated near the fence. It looked like order had been restored among the herd. Almost.
Poor Mia still wasn’t looking like she was feeling very inspired about life. I was really pleased to see her connecting with the other three again, but the energy she was displaying did not end my concern that she’s not feeling her absolute best.
The extreme cold bearing down on us won’t be a pleasant situation for her to endure if she’s at a low ebb.
Cyndie is away for a few days, so it will be up to Asher and me to make sure we are giving Mia extra attention, making plenty of hay easily accessible for her under the overhang. When it gets really cold, we toss out loose flakes of baled hay that they don’t need to work through a hay net to eat.
Hopefully, my energy isn’t dragging Mia down. Her sad appearance presents an opportunity for me to compartmentalize my gloom over the ongoing threats to residents in Minnesota from Federal ICE agents (and now, potentially, military troops) so it won’t bleed over to the horses. They deserve to have me show up with a clear head and peaceful, loving energy in their presence.
If I can find a way to achieve that, it will be beneficial for all of us.
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Gut Feeling
Not being inclined toward appearing alarmist, I hesitate to leap to extreme conclusions; however, there is a saying that I believe came from our government… If you see something, say something. Who am I supposed to tell when I see that it’s my country that is abusing its power?
I don’t know how we can ever apologize enough to the rest of the world for the ridiculous situation we have allowed to occur.
This morning, I am also struggling with making the wrong conclusion about the way Mia was behaving. I’m not confident in my ability to trust the accuracy of my intuitive sense of feelings triggered by what I witnessed. Since nothing I saw indicates an obvious problem or a need for immediate action, we are not doing anything more than planning to keep a closer eye on her for a while.
When I described my thoughts to Cyndie after returning to the house, she admitted having had a momentary similar thought. Could Mia be sensing her life coming to its end?
Unfortunately, our weather is expected to become more stressfully cold for a period of days, so if Mia is not interested in putting in the effort to cope, a fatal result would not be a surprise. One of the things Cyndie and I talked about triggered an insight. Mia has always been the lowest in the herd order and appears ostracized all too often. Cyndie posited the possibility that these horses are not behaving in the natural ways of a healthy herd with fully intact horse senses.
Before the abuse of severe neglect they suffered, they were forced to race in competitions against other horses. Our offerings of love and comfort since they’ve been with us haven’t necessarily undone all of the compensating behaviors they adopted to deal with all the different situations they have lived through.
I felt like Mia was showing signs of not caring about staying with the other three this morning. It could have been a passing grudge that won’t endure, and we will soon find her reengaged with one or more of the others.
Whether it’s my country or our horses, I find myself experiencing an unpleasant gut feeling.
It would be just fine with me to be wrong about Mia.
As for the country, I’m afraid things have already gone further than should ever have been allowed.
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Icier Still
Hydrostatic pressure pushing water to flow in the dead of winter remains a mystery to me. It doesn’t seem like liquid water should be able to make its way to the surface of a frozen landscape.
When we delicately make our way to the paddocks with temperatures in the single digits (F) in the morning, it surprises me to see new evidence that overnight water moved downstream in the typical routes it flows all summer, but it is somehow doing it as a glacier of flowing ice.
Did I mention that it’s like we live in a science lab?
We didn’t receive enough new flakes of snow yesterday to offset the loss of ice occurring through sublimation along the edges. It definitely didn’t provide an improvement in traction on the slippery surfaces.
The next weather system offering chances of new precipitation arrived overhead while we were tending to the horses.
I hauled a few loads of dry firewood in preparation for snuggling in front of the fireplace in the next few days. That’s one of our preferred ways of enjoying the sight of falling snow from our cozy indoor perches. I’m hoping to find fresh snow on the ground when daylight arrives this morning.
Asher spent much of his outdoor time yesterday gnawing on the dessicated carcass of a rabbit he found. It didn’t take long for Cyndie to decide he needed to be done with that pursuit, which led to us scraping up the furry bits that remained stuck to the icy snow to be bagged and disposed of in the trash.
To his credit, Asher didn’t fret too much over the cancellation of that fun and quickly turned his attention to the Jolly Ball with a frozen rope through the middle, ever-present in the yard. He played long and hard with me until finally bailing on the ball and racing around in zoomies mode.
He knew Cyndie was in the barn and kept checking in that direction while we were playing. After his last pass of zooming, he sprinted as fast as I’ve ever seen down the driveway, getting out of my sight for just a moment. I immediately began walking after him, noticing he was no longer on the driveway. I scanned left and right, but figured there was no way he could have made the sharp left turn at the speed he was moving.
I kept walking along the driveway, wondering if he was around the hay shed. Then I noticed the door to the barn was not fully closed. It seemed unlikely that he would have been able to slow down enough on that ice to make his way around to the open side of the door before I would have been able to see him, but he was nowhere else to be found.
Checking with Cyndie, I heard her confirm he was in there with her. You’d think by now I’d realize how much faster he can move than my sense of time and space perceives as possible.
PS: It is not lost on me that we are having ice problems at Wintervale at the same time the Twin Cities metro area is inundated with ICE agents in their masked cosplay costumes of military tactical gear. ICE goons give our ice situation a worse reputation than it really deserves.
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Freeze Dried
There are days when a walk outside on our property feels like we are living in a high school science lab. Whether it’s Physics or Chemistry, the atmospheric conditions pretty much dominate everything. We intimately witness the emphatic difference between dead calm and gale-force winds, a transition that can happen in a startlingly short span of time.
Evidence of cold contracting materials and heat expanding them becomes an auditory experience with our log home as it creaks and groans, snaps and pops as the wood reacts.
After our most recent January thaw, the air made a swift swing to a hard freeze. Snow that was mushy on top and soaking wet at the base became a solid block overnight.
Around the edges of anything icy, we get to see one of my favorite winter phenomena: sublimation. The H2O molecules skip the liquid phase and transition from solid to gas, expanding invisibly into the cold, dry air above. Surfaces that appeared to be soaking wet during Tuesday’s meltdown froze solid overnight. By yesterday afternoon, a majority of the driveway had been freeze-dried. The same applies to most of the shingles on the roof and the boards of the house’s deck.
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We put blankets on the other three horses yesterday afternoon in advance of expected precipitation today, to be followed by a reasonable cold snap.
Each blanket has straps on the inside that get routed around each of their back legs to hold the sides of the blanket in place. A week or two ago, Cyndie reported finding a stray strap lying in the snow. It looked like one of those side straps to me. We both assumed that one of the horses had managed to ‘toss’ it from their blanket.
Here is one of life’s little mysteries that keeps things interesting, and yes, it is related to “assuming.” The last blanket we put on was Swings’ and when I didn’t find a side strap on my side, I asked Cyndie to bring me the strap she had found in the snow, assuming the puzzle was solved.
Imagine my surprise when I reached up under the blanket, trying to locate the D-ring to clip the strap to, and found there was already a strap connected to it that I hadn’t noticed. The strap had gotten hung up over her back instead of hanging down like the rest of the straps to be attached.
So the question remains, where did the strap Cyndie found in the snow come from? We have no idea.
It’s a good thing we are only caring for 4 horses. I can’t imagine trying to keep track of things for a larger herd, given the number of times things get confusing with just our quartet of mares.
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Slippery Mess
Yesterday, the 13th of January, we endured another day of serious melting, having not dropped below freezing the previous night. Our trails in the woods look like a super-highway for deer traffic in some areas. There isn’t a single trail where at least one deer has left its hoof prints.
We found a spot where deer had lain down and melted the snow right in the middle of one of the trails. They must be well aware of Asher’s presence because, despite all the tracks, they are conspicuously nonexistent during the daytime hours.
The songbirds sounded pretty happy about the big thaw. The false echoes of spring floated in the air as we made our way among the leafless trees of our woods.
Mid-40s(F) in the middle of the day allowed for a stroll without my outer layer insulated shirt-jacket. My vest was perfectly adequate. Playing with Asher rendered my mitts soaked from the wet snow.
One of my favorite things is when Cyndie sends me pictures she took that look exactly like something I would capture. She knows me oh so well. At least the melting mess makes for interesting photos.
I have done some custom cropping of her images, but she gets all the credit for capturing these views for my entertainment.
Where was I while she was walking the dog and seeing all this beautiful scenery? In the house, finishing the jigsaw puzzle and reading more chapters of Bruce Springsteen’s autobiography.
At the afternoon feeding for the horses, Mia got covered with a blanket again, which she calmly accepted. I believe it helps our cause to remove the blankets when the temperatures warm up. They tend to fret less when the time comes to put them on again. We like to get them on before bad weather makes them cold and wet, but that can find them less interested, if you know what I mean.
Since I believe they are picking up information that we’re not always aware of sending, it’s on us to visualize the desire to keep them as warm and dry as possible when the weather is expected to change. Mia must have sensed this yesterday.
At this point, I’m hoping we can get some new snow on the ground soon to offer a little added traction. The paddocks are a ghastly, icy mess to navigate across until that happens. Twice yesterday, when Mia tried to execute her hurried escape from the reach of maneuvering horses, her hooves slipped dramatically.
That’s a rather nerve-wracking sound when it happens right next to where I’m standing.
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Fear Not
Someone posted a thought experiment question to supporters of the ICE agenda, asking for a genuine response that describes what their endgame truly is if they were to succeed with their campaign of abductions. As one might expect, the responses, as far as I was willing to wade through, only came from opponents of the ongoing terror, stating what they believed the ultimate intent is.
Who would openly admit what they want to see accomplished? I’m guessing some people truly imagine that only verified dangerous criminals are being captured and that our society will be better for it.
I think we all recognize that there is something much bigger than just this misguided effort to address immigration at play in the chaotic current version of governing in the US. I suggest it all boils down to money and power, not necessarily in that order. Something, something, pedophilia, best friend Epstein, rapes, grifting, profiteering, selling favors, duping supporters, stiffing creditors, staying out of jail, patsy to Putin, something, something. Oh, and malignant narcissism.
It’s as if we are living inside a movie screenplay where the villain(s) is/are gaining the upper hand. Too bad it’s real life, and no one has written out the part where a hero or team of superheroes, even, will show up to dispatch the evil tyrant and return normalcy to the universe.
Cyndie and I listened to a vivid recounting of a near-death experience yesterday that resonated in its close correlation with repeating versions of every NDE I’ve ever heard described. The details also seamlessly aligned with what we’ve come to understand in the realm of divine universal consciousness and telepathic communication.
We truly believe with awe and wonder that there is a consciousness that exists above the level we humans are conditioned to perceive. There are so many aspects of this that permeate history to varying depths, and which, over time, have been discounted as unreliable fantasies. Yet, a vast majority of people believe in their religious teachings and pray to an unseen deity and don’t perceive that as fantasy at all.
It is difficult for me to reconcile the combination of extremely reprehensible individuals reaching positions of global power, while at the same time, a divine wisdom is vibrating within reach of anyone who learns how to tune in to it. The human race has so much untapped potential, yet we now find ourselves teetering on the edge of fascist atrocities reminiscent of almost 100 years ago in our past.
The woman who described her NDE was dying of cancer, an illness she greatly feared. Being outside her physical body at the time when doctors were telling her family she would not survive, and receiving messages from her deceased father, served to eliminate her fear of death and of the cancer.
Just like many others who’ve experienced the same thing have described, reaching that out-of-body awareness felt so amazing that she didn’t want to return. However, with her father’s encouragement, she did return to her body. Freed of her previous fears, she was able to heal from the cancer.
Imagine if all humans gained the insights that would dispel what they fear most.
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NFL Playoffs
- I don’t remember what my earliest memory could be.
- I don’t remember interacting with any of my grandparents.
- I don’t remember learning to read.
- I don’t remember how intensely I was exposed to second-hand smoke growing up.
- I don’t remember most of what I was taught about Electronic Technology in the 1980s.
- I don’t remember how many Minnesota Vikings NFL games I attended in my life.
- I do remember witnessing Drew Pearson pushing off Nate Wright in the 1975 playoff game.
I watched most of the Wildcard Weekend NFL games and was duly entertained. Two things stood out for me.
This sport is so violent, and the strain on players’ bodies is so intense, that injury is a huge factor contributing to which team advances and which team is eliminated. By this time in the season, teams have already lost star players to season-ending injuries before the first playoff game kicks off. During these now single-elimination battles, there were knee, Achilles, and concussion injuries that benched several key players.
Given that, it still comes down to athletes executing some mind-boggling feats requiring precision timing, extreme reach, great leaping, powerful strength, sustained stamina, and incredible teamwork. Eleven players with immediate duties to dominate eleven opponents who are intent on doing the same back at them.
As much as I’ve grown to loathe the NFL as a business, I can’t seem to shake my fascination with the dramatic competition that happens live in front of stadiums full of incredibly passionate fans and involves such impressive athleticism combined with split-second decision-making.
In many ways, NFL football is a stupid sport, but at the same time, it offers plenty of excitement for interested viewers.
Despite having tried multiple times in my life, I just can’t get myself to quit it.
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Relative Something 