Posts Tagged ‘snow’
Vivid Difference
To clean or not to clean the driveway, shouldn’t even be a question. If I don’t have to go through the gas-burning effort of using the Yamaha Grizzly ATV to plow the driveway, I prefer not using it. The paltry amount of snow that remains on the surface where I haven’t swept it off does get kind of messy and gives off the appearance of neglect on the part of those responsible for managing the grounds.
I should probably talk to that guy.
It’s almost spotless where I pushed off the snow a day earlier. A pretty dramatic difference.
We are anticipating a delivery of feed for the horses tomorrow, so I’m thinking I should clean off the short distance remaining beyond the shadow of the hay shed before the forklift’s arrival. Just beyond the hay shed, the driveway asphalt is already clear due to its exposure to the wind along the hay field.
Unfortunately, frost heave and snowmelt around the big barn doors have locked them shut. I haven’t decided whether I will have the pallet dropped in front of the stacked bales inside the hay shed or just parked in front of the barn to be carried inside one 50lb bag at a time and restacked on another pallet.
It’s wild seeing pictures of the impressive amount of snow that has fallen over many large population centers to the south and east of us over the weekend. Not our issue to be dealt with this time. I sympathize with their plight, though.
I guess it’s like the vivid difference on our driveway right now. Others are inundated, while we didn’t get any new precipitation out of the big storm, Fern.
At least we’re no longer the only region in the country dealing with crazy cold temperatures. Remember, this is why some weather science folks suggested we change the phrase “global warming” to global weirding. Sorry for the deep freeze, Gulf Coast states!
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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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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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Actually Happening
Our politicians, all of them, have failed all of us by not holding each other accountable to the oaths of office they took to carry out the duties outlined in the U.S. Constitution. Unfortunately, bad people will take advantage of opportunities to do wrong when they get the chance. Groups of bad people playing a long game appear to have figured out a strategy to get around the guidelines of ethical behavior that our democracy assumed would govern the intended protections of having three separate branches of power.
One might surmise that money is the root cause of the mess we now find ourselves in under the current suspiciously elected administration, taking overt steps to achieve a fascist and highly profitable control of this country.
There was a time when a multitude of the actions currently playing out in plain sight would have led to arrest. Behaviors that once resulted in universal condemnation started being overlooked until it now seems as though no level of shameful words or actions will result in rational consequences.
It doesn’t paint a pretty picture.
To counter that, I offer a few pretty pictures I’ve taken and a thrilling distraction depicting an example that not everyone gives in to the lure of money over ethics or laws.
First, the distraction: Cyndie and I enjoyed the latest movie with Matt Damon and Ben Affleck together again, “The Rip,” for its crafty hold on maintaining an enduring tension throughout (it’s a crime thriller!), the great performances of all the actors, and the intelligent script. Pay attention and keep up. For added depth to this cinematic adventure, it is based on a real-life police raid in Miami. If you are up for a break from the tension of today’s news, this movie will let you vent some of that energy in the safe confines of home (it’s on Netflix) and get you to a rewarding (pun acknowledged) resolution after just 2 hours and 13 minutes. Don’t hold your breath the whole time.
Looking down, here is one scene from the start of falling snow yesterday, and two from this morning:
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Great Adventures
Our first day of the new year up in the north woods was pure joy for Asher and us. The big pup got a lot of love from Mike, here shown gently accepting a treat:
We have been eating the most delicious and festive of foods prepared by Barb and Cyndie, with Mike adding his artistry in a variety of ways, including these wonderful appetizers:
When we weren’t busy eating, we were outside giving Asher a chance to explore the woods around the cabin. He was a good sport about staying in contact with us when we let him wander a little bit to follow the obvious deer tracks in the snow.
Mike dug through a closet of dog toys accumulated over the years and came up with a chew toy for Asher. Our hound gnawed on it for a little while, but then began pacing the cabin, looking for a place to bury it. I let him take it outside with us, and he immediately hunted for somewhere he could bury it in the snow.
Before we made our way back indoors, I snuck over and retrieved the “bone” and brought it back in with us.
He soon lost interest in it and moved on to other distractions, including barking at things out the window that none of the rest of us could perceive.
When we weren’t outside enjoying walks in the perfect falling snow, Barb and I ripped through a 300-piece jigsaw puzzle, while Cyndie made short work of a cribbage match with Mike. We played a couple of other games, listened to an episode of the Telepathy Tapes podcast, and watched a movie that was wrongly identified as a “comedy.”
You know, ‘at-the-lake’ activities.
My daily routine has been knocked for a loop without our usual twice-a-day horse-feeding detail, demonstrated by my confused and entirely incorrect exclamation that it was “already seven o’clock!” after glancing up at an analog clock with Roman numerals.
It was 5:00. Oops. Flipped that around a bit. That drew a few well-deserved wisecracks and laughter.
It’s a good thing I don’t drink alcohol. I’m able to remain clear-headed during these kinds of foibles, allowing me to chronicle them accurately for posterity.
We have no responsibilities to do anything different today, but I’ve heard a trip to Grand Rapids to eat at a restaurant is possible. I doubt Asher will be too thrilled with that plan, since it will involve him staying here alone, but I suspect we can reward him with a big explore later around our hosts’ other wooded property, just a short drive from their cabin.
Sometimes great adventures involve a little sacrifice.
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Wintery Again
This is more like it. It’s feeling like real winter again around here. I worked all day yesterday clearing snow, and with Cyndie’s help doing some shoveling, we got everything done in one day. That’s quite an accomplishment. It usually takes me two days to get to the roof raking and then cleaning up the mess of snow pulled to the ground below.
I took a picture from a similar spot to one I took on Saturday to provide a comparison of the change two days later:
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Having made that run up and down the driveway in the middle of the storm Sunday night made yesterday’s work much easier. I ended up spending a lot of time trying to plow around the barn and hay shed because I hadn’t touched that on Sunday, so it was the full depth, and the base level was still a little wet and messy.
I needed to clear the loop wide at the approaches because we are getting a hay delivery tomorrow morning. I still worry it might be a challenge to pull a trailer around from the driveway to circle in front of the shed. In the summer, vehicles can just overshoot onto the grass to complete the turn.
The Yamaha Grizzly ATV did a heroic job of performing everything I asked of it. The driveway almost looks professionally done.
If we had been up at the lake instead of here during the storm, we would have come home to quite a challenge. As it was, I was able to proactively slide the mailbox off its base when I was plowing Sunday night, to protect it from the blast of snow that shoots off the township plow blade. When I first made my way down to the road yesterday, it had been plowed, so I was able to reattach the mailbox before the mail delivery arrived. I’m feeling rather chuffed about finally remembering in advance to try this.
I usually find it in the ditch, having been wrenched sideways off the base, and kick myself for letting it happen another time.
Now that it is wintery again, I shouldn’t be surprised there’s a 50% chance of a dusting to a half inch of snow today and tomorrow, just so my plowing efforts won’t stay completely clean for long.
I guess I should be careful what I wish for, eh?
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Snow Likely
It’s just weather. We’ve dealt with it before. Maybe that’s why I’m dreading it so much, in advance. We awoke to a continuing gray fog looming over the landscape, one that freezes on surfaces, making navigating on foot treacherous.
I opened up my weather app to learn we are under a Winter Storm Watch, the description of which is my worst sort to suffer:
* …Snow likely, possibly heavy at times. Total snow accumulations between 5 and 8 inches. A light glazing of ice is possible. Winds could gust as high as 40 mph.
I loathe clearing snow when the accumulation has started with rain that then freezes with snow welded into it. It’s not always frozen, though. The fast-falling snow can insulate the surface to create deep snow with a heavy, wet unfrozen layer at the bottom. Miserable to plow. Sticks to the blade. Becomes too heavy to push. Or, freezes to the surface so it can’t be removed by shovel or blade.
Asher kept an eye out for critters lurking about in the fog this morning while the horses had their noses in the feed buckets.
We are weighing the options for the best time to blanket the three horses before they get wet, but not so soon that they get sweaty, since the temperature remains above freezing in the hours before the storm kicks up.
Our plan to have the kids come hang out with us tomorrow is wrecked by the risk of nasty weather. However, lest you think I’ve become a surly old grump, there is a silver lining to acknowledge.
We were originally planning to be up at the lake place for a few days before then driving to Grand Rapids, MN, to spend New Year’s Day with our friends, Barb & Mike. It was the news of hay being delivered on the 31st that had prevented us from going to the lake.
That change means we are home to deal with the arrival of oodles of messy precipitation and high winds. If we were up north when the storm hit, the person who was scheduled to feed the horses wouldn’t have been able to get up our driveway unless they used snowshoes.
How great that it worked out that we will be home! I just need to get the snow cleared by Wednesday so the hay delivery can go smoothly. As soon as it’s all in the shed, we hope to hightail it north to Grand Rapids.
See. We don’t look grumpy at all. Although that photo captured us on Christmas night at her brother’s house. I reserve the right to change my expression while clearing snow all day on Monday.
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Snow Maybe
It’s close. We can see it on the weather radar. Our county is under a Winter Weather Advisory today as a snow system is slowly making its way across our region from west to east. It appears that the bulk of the impact will be to our south, which puts us in the “maybe” category regarding the amount of accumulated snow we will need to shovel or plow.
Just in case it piles up, I spent some time yesterday pulling the plow blade from the back of the garage and getting it mounted on the Grizzly.
It took ‘some time’ because the long arms of the mounting frame, combined with the weight and width of the blade, make it rather unwieldy to maneuver.
The real problem lies in the fact that I can almost move it sufficiently all on my own, so I am too often inclined to try. Yesterday’s effort bordered on ridiculous and held potential for several troublesome failures as I wrestled it around a variety of obstacles to get it to the front of the ATV. Ultimately, I accomplished it without incident.
Once there, I needed to envision a creative way to connect the hook and winch cable that lifts the blade, since the cobbled method from last winter proved to be ill-advised. I’m not confident that my latest iteration will be adequate, but it’s a start.
If history serves as a guide, I will be forced to revise the setup when it fails in the dark, when it is cold, and I am in the middle of a huge plowing effort. That’s always a great time to work on kludged solutions.
Since yesterday’s weather was a perfect calm before the storm type of day, I decided to move a fresh batch of bales from the hay shed to the barn. Upon opening the big door of the hay shed, the aroma of moldy hay was becoming too prominent to ignore.
Our several-year-old ploy of leaving old bales as a base layer on which we stack new hay needs a change. Cyndie swept down cobwebs while we contemplated the effort it will take to remove the nasty bales.
The first challenge will be that the twine will likely have degraded to a point of failure when we try to pick up the bales. The second challenge is where we will dispose of the moldy mass. I may or may not dabble in the project while beautiful flakes are floating down this afternoon.
Light was keeping an eye on the distant horizon between mouthfuls of her feed this morning. The insulating property of her winter growth is visible in the snow that doesn’t melt on her back.
She looks so gorgeous, it’s hard to fathom how skinny she was when rescued as a starving momma in a kill pen in Kansas years back. The tips of her mane look like she has them colored at some fancy salon.
These horses deserve to be fed the best hay we can find, and to keep it stored in a way that keeps it fresh until the last bottom bale is reached.
Cleaning the hay shed today will be a labor of love.
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Feeling (C)old
Three days ago, our temperatures were around 80°F. Welcome to spring in the Northland. That unseasonal warmth brought an overnight storm with heavy rain and loads of lightning and thunder. Most of the day yesterday dragged on with a dreary occasional mist and temps hovering in the very chilly mid-30s.
Around dinnertime, the temperature dropped below freezing.
Just 47 minutes later, it looked like this outside:
Hot and cold weather always bounces back and forth this time of year, so we should be well-adjusted to coping with the changes, but the return of wintery chills and snow never fails to feel like an undeserved punishment.
It’s the final day of March. I could hope that this is the last blanketing of snow we will get for the season, but ever since going through the extreme experience of receiving 18 inches of snow on May 2nd, 2013, I won’t assume we are in the clear until the calendar flips to June.
Cyndie tried convincing Mia to wear a light blanket for protection against the wetness, but Mia wasn’t interested. I figure she didn’t want to look different than the other Mares. All four of them seem to be coping just fine, as they almost always do.
I’ve got coping skills of my own that I’ve been executing. Lounging in the recliner by the fireplace, eating more than I should, adding a few inches and pounds of insulation around my middle, and napping whenever my tired eyes keep trying to stay closed. It feels an awful lot like my impression of what getting old must be like.
My initiative to maintain an exercise routine for back health and strong core muscles has done a disappearing act. Now in my mid-60s, I seem to have experienced a shift of my own from hot to cold. My morning workouts now tend to involve more cerebral pursuits like Wordle, Strands, and Connections in the NY Times games suite and sporadic stabs at Words With Friends competitions.
My aging is getting more obvious now that mental exercise has become just as tiring as my physical workouts once were.
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Solitary Refinement
In the middle of my solo escape to the lake, I find myself thinking about how I can most fully absorb the pleasures of these agenda-less days. When I am tasked daily at home with duties, the dream of having nothing pressing me into an activity grows and grows. I long to have no reason to get out of bed and to pick and choose what comes next by whim instead of by the hour on the clock. An hour, by the way, that has once again shifted disorientingly forward to DST overnight. Ugh, I say, and I don’t even have any schedule that needs to be upheld today.
Looking back on the already vanished last two days of luxurious solo pursuits, I fear the benefits of getting what I so dearly wanted are disappearing without my fully appreciating the greatness of the moments. Today, I plan to see if I can improve on that perception.
There is a herd of deer wandering the grounds that I have enjoyed seeing each day. I counted seven yesterday in the middle of a sunny afternoon. From the obvious pattern of their heavily traveled hoof prints in the snow, it appears they have a much more set agenda than I do.
I made my way to our mini labyrinth in the woods and reclaimed the pathway with my own footprints. There was no sign of wildlife traffic in that area.
No, the deer have been walking right past the house along the ridge above the lake. One or two of them had approached the house to nibble on the branches of one of the landscape shrubs.
I took a few pictures on my walk yesterday morning when the temperature was still below freezing. There was a striking difference in the texture of the snow where shade had kept it all wonderfully powdery, as opposed to the hard crust more prominent everywhere else.
Later in the day, the clouds broke up, and the sun kicked up the amount of melting significantly.
My slow, aimless wandering was one of the divine pleasures I want to deeply appreciate in its contrast to strolling along with Asher, which is more my norm.
Oh, my. Look at the hour. How can it be this late already? Oh, yeah. That.
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Relative Something 