Relative Something

Compared to the days and weeks before Christmas and New Year’s, the second day of the year was pretty serene around here. There isn’t enough news to fill barely a minute of a Garrison Keillor Lake Wobegon-style monologue. If you’ve never heard one of those rambles from the great storyteller, GK, look it up.

I wonder how long it will be until no one recognizes what I am talking about when I reference the old Prairie Home Companion radio show.

The highlight of my day yesterday was capturing a couple of photographs on a walk with Asher in the waterway along the southern border of our property.

When it rained last week, there was enough runoff to create some flow in the waterway, as evidenced by pools that froze over in low spots. The water beneath has since dried up, leaving a beautifully decorated layer of ice about the thickness of a skinny pane of glass.

I also paused to take a picture of a wonderfully constructed nest in a young oak tree we’ve been nurturing since discovering it.

The birds didn’t winterize this structure, but maybe they’ll return in a few months to put their summer home to good use.

That’s the extent of excitement around here yesterday. Oh, I suppose I could add the jovial visit from our “This Old Horse” rep, Johanne, who dropped off bags of grain for the herd and picked up a few bales of the hay that our mares don’t like. She has horses and mules that’ll eat it.

I spent time reading a Pierce County book about historical log houses and a bunch more newspaper editions from the 1870s. I haven’t come across any new details about my ancestors who lived here at the time in my recent reading, but every day, my impression of what life was like in this area back then becomes better informed.

As in, the sights I found in the waterway are likely very similar to what my great (and great-great) grandparents were seeing on walks in their days. Although, back then, they probably would have seen these things in November instead of January.

That’s yesterday’s news from the ranch, where the horses are strong, the meals are good, and Asher’s intelligence is about average.

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