Archive for the ‘Chronicle’ Category
Sticky Mess
Sure, it’s beautiful, but it was a sticky, wet mess of a snowfall yesterday. Today’s episode of the ongoing saga that is our adventures on the ranch involves wet horses, warm winter precipitation, Christmas preparations, and knee replacement recovery.
Who could this be?
Why, it’s none other than our stoic herd leader, Legacy. The wet snow had given his long winter coat a curly design that called out to me for a close-up photograph. I find it interesting that so many of his little ringlets contain a strand of color.
A first impression generally perceives him as a white horse, but he does have a subtle distribution of color to him.
I was walking Delilah around the perimeter of the hay-field fence and the horses were out standing in the wet precipitation in the far distance of the field. The horses are well familiar with our routine of trekking this path and most days pay us little attention. Yesterday, at a moment of pause for Delilah to bury her nose in the snow in search of some potential snack, I noticed Cayenne’s energy kick up a bit toward us.
I stepped up to the fence and invited them over, and to my surprise, they came! It is funny how Legacy reacts to these situations, as Cayenne was definitely the instigator and leading the way, but he makes sure to get right on her flank as leader and protector.
When they have closed the distance, he takes command and steps up to make first contact. The other three obediently concede his authority and stay back a length or two.
We visited for a bit and I took pictures of them. Then it was time to move on with Delilah and the herd responded immediately to my movement by turning and running off through the snow back to the fence line in the distance from which they had come. It was a gorgeous visual, their playful equine energy gallivanting away through the falling wet flakes.
They knew what was on the other end of Delilah’s and my little walk. We completed our loop and made our way back to the barn to do the daily afternoon housekeeping, serve up pans of feed, and refill the hay boxes.
I decided to wait out the falling wet snow before starting the plowing and shoveling routine, so spent the afternoon wrapping Christmas gifts and doing laundry. Cyndie had her last in-home physical therapy session and achieved the milestone of reaching 120° bend on the leg with the new knee. She has completely ditched the walker and is getting around with just a cane.
She went on her first outing last night to a Christmas party of the Wildwood Lodge Club clan, the community of families with vacation homes on Big Round Lake near Hayward, WI.
I can see some light at the end of the tunnel of full responsibility for chores around here, and none too soon. I am exhausted. I think the horses miss seeing Cyndie, and I have to admit, I’m growing tired of being their primary caregiver. It’s a bit much when I am also working full-time an hour’s drive away. Add in the requirement of walking Delilah several times a day and my candle is burning at all three ends.
Happily, Cyndie is active again in the kitchen, so at least I’m no longer needing to pretend I have skills there. The next two days will be a whirlwind of driving to and fro from the ranch to Cyndie’s parents’ house for Christmas events.
I hope I can stay awake behind the wheel.
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Remembering Clarity
I’m trying to remember what clarity is like. It seems like it was a long time ago that I last experienced a moment of clarity. Lately, everything is a combination of spider webs and fog interspersed with moments of wind whipped precipitation and hours of lost sleep.
Not lost as in, I don’t know where I put it, but the kind of lost which I can never get back. It’s gone. No longer exists.
But I can make more. There is more where that came from.
Don’t worry. Even Delilah is confused by all this.
She can’t figure out why I’m not getting over that moment of her violating the sanctity of my dinner plate. If I thought she could understand, I’d explain that it’s because I don’t want to get over it.
Our dog is now facing a new regimen of training in which I re-establish my dominance over her.
I’m not confident that she is putting 2 and 2 together, but I do know that she understands what I’m after when I demand she lay down and let me straddle her and stand very purposefully. She does not want to give up her power without a fair amount of resistance. Outlasting her is one thing that I may not have enough patience for.
I tend to think of myself as a patient man, but I’m finding out there are some situations to which that doesn’t apply.
Or maybe it’s just hampered by a lack of clarity.
I’m hoping that a few nights of decent sleep might produce a new dose of that forgotten clarity. Now, if I could just remember how it was that I got a decent night’s sleep.
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Trimming Time
After last week’s extremely cold weather, the swing of about 60° in the direction of warmer yesterday made our decision of waiting until this week to trim the horses’ hooves seem like a brilliant one. I thought Legacy looked particularly more limber than his usual self and credited it to the warmer temperatures.
Who doesn’t feel less tensed up when first day of winter turns out to be a melty, well-above freezing temperatures day?
Unfortunately this warm up comes with a threat of rain and some thunder in the days ahead, and for some areas near the Mississippi river, a flood warning!
What will they think of next?
George made quick work of the 16 hooves and Anneliese helped me finish the housekeeping in the space beneath the overhang. We were done before the sky turned dark. Pretty impressive for the shortest day of light.
From here on through winter, the days will be getting longer. I don’t know about warmer or colder, but they will definitely be getting longer.
Hopefully, they won’t get colder right away. Something is up with our geothermal heating system such that it doesn’t seem to be able to reach the set point.
During the cold snap, it was logical that it couldn’t keep up, but now that it has gotten so much warmer outside, the furnace shouldn’t have to work so hard.
Desirea shows off her new hoof-icure while munching from the slow feeder.
I think the horses are happy to have their blankets off. We’ll see what they think in a few days when rain, not snow, comes down from the sky.
Happy winter!
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Short Day
It’s the shortest day of the year and the longest night. In recognition of that, it’s also one of my shortest posts!
Happy Winter Solstice!
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Mukluk Love
Have I gushed about my Steger Mukluks yet this winter? No? Then I’m overdue. These boots are simply the warmest and most comfortable winter footwear I have ever encountered. I’m on my second pair in about 30 years and the ones pictured are barely into their second season of use.
With both pairs I have been somewhat selective about when I choose to wear them, reserving each for times when there was a worthy amount of snow. They work just fine in other conditions, but for me they excel in the snow. Minimizing my time on hard surfaces like concrete or pavement is one of the ways I’ve been able to extend the life of the boots.
One of many features I adore is that they aren’t made with a left or right design. By switching them annually to the opposite foot, natural wear and tear is stretched out to double what it would otherwise be. They feel weird at first during the transition phase, but the soft sole adjusts soon enough to the new shape.
The overall feel is another amazing feature, albeit a little odd at first. Since they are soft soled, it feels a lot like wearing a slipper, and who would wear their slippers out for a hike in the deep snow? It’s just plain weird. But it is also liberating for feet to be so incredibly comfortable in such harsh conditions.
The absence of a firm structure to confine the foot into a specific space allows toes to spread out to their full natural width. This supports maximum blood flow through the foot and that naturally contributes to warmer feet. When wearing my mukluks, my feet are never the part of me that gets cold.
Steger mukluks are not an inexpensive option, but they are a worthy investment that provides incredible dividends. The longer you can make them last, the more value you get for the many dollars spent.
One last bonus: If you are hesitant about being active outside during the winter, owning a pair of boots that are the most comfortable ever and keep your feet warm and dry, will make you want to be out there every day possible.
I love my Steger mukluks!
p.s.: I forgot to mention how easy it is to slide my feet into, and out of them. It really is like putting on slippers. There. One more bonus, after the “one last bonus” above!
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Pet Scapades
Sure it’s cold. So what does that have to do with Pequenita, our indoor cat? She has been a lot more playful the last few days. Cyndie let ‘Nita have her way with some tissue paper yesterday and the cat went to town on it. It was fun to watch, because it was a bit out of character for her.
Other than that brief excitement indoors, the rest of my day involved shoveling, tending to the horses, walking Delilah, fixing the winch cable on the Grizzly, and plowing the rest of the driveway in the evening darkness. I was cold and hungry when I finally headed inside, and happily discovered the scent of dinner preparations upon my arrival.
Cyndie has made so much progress this weekend, she was able to move around without the walker and could stand long enough in the kitchen to prepare food. Since it’s still difficult to carry things, I brought her dinner plate to the bedroom for her, where she was putting her leg up to rest.
When I returned to the kitchen to get my plate from the counter, I saw nothing but salad left on my plate. Delilah was chomping my entrée on the floor. More indoor excitement. At least it wasn’t the cat.
What a way to wreck a meal. Cyndie split her serving in half and shared it with me, but I had a hard time enjoying it after seeing my original portion spread on the kitchen floor. What bothered me the most was the feeling of betrayal and disrespect of our food on the counter by Delilah.
Someone really needs to teach that dog some manners. Is there an app for that?
For the time being, I am going to practice not letting my plates of food out of my sight when she is around.
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After Snow
Here’s how it works. The low pressure system spins up a wonderful snowfall and moves on to the east. Behind that comes high pressure and clear skies, bringing with it the bitter cold air that is on vacation from the North Pole. It’s a little counterintuitive, but our coldest days are also the sunniest.
I moved the horses inside the barn last night due to the harsh conditions of -20° (F), which carries with it the threat of dangerous wind chills. We didn’t get much wind, so they probably would have been fine, but I think they appreciate the gesture whenever we provide the overnight accommodations.
As soon as the sun showed up this morning, I moved the herd back outside where they could soak up what little solar energy possible in this cold. Hunter seemed happy to have access to the rest of the bunch again and wandered around pestering everyone while they tried to munch from the hay boxes in the sunny nook beneath the overhang.
Yesterday my plowing and shoveling was a mixed success. I decided to pull snow off the roof right from the start, so I would shovel the entryways only one time. It made it a significantly more arduous task, but at least I wasn’t doing it twice.
While in the middle of that chore, I heard a rumble in the driveway that turned out to be my neighbor making a couple of volunteer passes with his snowplow. Cut my workload considerably! Gave us a rare opportunity for a brief visit and catch up with local trivia. His main inquiry is almost always regarding how many deer I have seen. He proudly reported seeing a group of seven just the other day.
I couldn’t compete with that.
He left the edges and the loop around the hay shed for me to do, mentioning it like that was the favor he was doing me, not the plowing of the full length of our driveway. I thanked him profusely for his timing, as I have more to do than I can fit in a day, lately. He wasn’t aware that Cyndie is on limited duty, recovering from the knee replacement surgery.
About half way through the plowing I wanted to accomplish, the cable that lifts the plow blade broke. I get to fix that today in the painfully cold weather. This may be the second snowfall in a row where I don’t plow all the area around the barn that I want plowed.
It would have been nice to finish it yesterday before the worst of the cold air arrived. I’m tempted to resort to some hand shoveling to clear essential paths at the very minimum. Riding around on the ATV in these extreme temperatures isn’t that much fun.
Even though I really do love winter the most!
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Seriously Wintery
It’s seriously wintery now. In which, I’m going to need to pull some snow off the roof. How is it that snowflakes will collect facing straight down?
Poor Delilah is having a hard time keeping the snow from freezing between her toes. We tried getting her to wear little booties one time. She kicked them off in minutes. I wonder if she might reconsider at this point.
The horses have blankets on now. Per Cyndie’s instructions, Anneliese and George put them on before heading out of town this weekend. The herd seemed pretty much in survival mode this morning, conserving their energy, hunkered down against the elements, non-stop munching hay.
I will spend the day plowing and shoveling in a biting cold winter wind. This is the winter weather that is legendary for the northland. None of that wimpy global warming stuff where we barely get below freezing and snow melts soon after it falls. That is so last year.
We’re all good again, collecting stories that we can pass on to our descendants about how cold and snowy it was back in the day.
Hopefully, I’ll survive the weekend to tell about it later.
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Depression Podcast
It’s unusual to consider depression something to be laughed at, but maybe laughing at it has some merit. I have discovered a new podcast from American Public Media hosted by humorist John Moe called, “The Hilarious World of Depression.” Through conversations with some nationally respected comedians who share tales of their own experiences with depression, Moe explores a link between the illness and comedy.
The show is sponsored by HealthPartners and its “Make It Okay” campaign. I have long been a fan of the idea that talking about mental health issues is a crucial step toward reducing the stigma normally associated with them.
Depression can be treated. I treat mine everyday. In fact, talking about my experiences is one of the methods I employ to treat my natural tendency toward a depressive mindset.
I think it’s a great thing when humor can be added to the topic that is uncomfortable for most people to discuss. Spread the word about this podcast to people you know. It’s okay to talk about mental illness.
Now we can even laugh at it, too.
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Intriguing Finds
Imagine this: Delilah and I were on another walk around our property. How many times have we done that before? Regardless the frequency of our travel on the variety of paths available, there is always something new to discover. Yesterday in the quickly fading light of day, it was snow and marks in the snow that caught our attention.
Well, my attention, anyway.
In both cases, I had almost entirely passed by the beauties when something caused me to stop and fish the camera out of my pocket. Despite the bitterly cold temperature and the low light, I came up with images that work for me.
The first subject was a couple of balanced mossy rocks that the snow had frosted with a flair. It flowed down from the top of the upper rock and circled perfectly around it as it settled over the rock below.
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The second find was even more fascinating to me. At first glance I assumed the marks in the snow were probably from George and Anneliese’s dogs, but one mark didn’t make any sense. My brain processed it as if a bear had swung a clawed paw.
Probably not.
Then it occurred to me. That was the shadow of a passing wing! These were the tracks from a predator snatching up prey. Wow.
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I had to halt Delilah’s progress so I could get out the camera again and position myself to capture the shot. I couldn’t reach because she was pulling against me toward something more interesting to her.
I called her to come back toward me and then quickly pleaded with her to stop and stay, in fear she would come barreling all the way back to me and stomp through the scene. Luckily, she stopped.
Just another walk around the property. Yeah.
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