Posts Tagged ‘winter thaw’
Warm Chill
I’m no meteorologic expert or physics genius, but this I know: It’s a weird counter-intuitive situation when the temperature rises above freezing while there is still a solid snowpack on the ground. The chill can feel deeper than when there is a biting cold of below zero (F).
Yesterday was one of those days. The surface beneath the horse’s hooves by the barn was getting muddier and messier as the hazy sun melted the frozen ground. The substantial snowpack everywhere else was evaporating into the atmosphere, bringing up humidity which increases the transfer of cold radiating from the ground.
The result was a warm day for wintertime that feels oddly chillier than a person thinks it should.
It’s impressive how effective the snowpack is at making it seem like you’re walking through the refrigeration aisle of a grocery store. It makes me want to put a frozen pizza in the oven.
Last night after I fed the horses dinner, I attempted to split the herd in two so I could close the gates and reduce competition for space under the overhang. A snow squall moving through overnight threatened to bring mixed precipitation and we didn’t want a tiff over territory to force any of them to be left out where they would get soaking wet.
When I returned to the house, I told Cyndie she could revoke my “horse whisperer” credentials. I was entirely unsuccessful in luring any of them to pair up on the far side of the overhang. Frustrated, I left with all the gates open. It would be up to them to work it out when the precipitation got nasty. The afternoon temps have been warm enough that we have chosen to leave their blankets off for the time being. The occasional precipitation like this can complicate things and we end up second-guessing our decision at times.
They didn’t want to cooperate with my plan last night so I’m going to trust they knew better than I did about how to deal with a little wet overnight snow.
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Winter Lull
We are enjoying a pause in the harsh, cold winter temperatures this week. It truly is a welcome relief for those of us who have to do things outdoors every day no matter what the weather is like. Hanging out with our horses, cleaning up around them, and feeding them, I get a very good sense of how much more at ease they are now that we’ve come out of the latest blast of extreme cold.
Those wicked cold mornings have the horses looking so stoic as they stiffly brace themselves against the stinging bite of the frigid air. They do very little moving to conserve what little warmth is lingering under their winter growth right up to the moment they prepare for the delivery of their feed pans by romping about, running, and kicking to jump-start their circulation.
In contrast, their lack of stiffness yesterday morning energized me. The horses radiated a feeling of ease and contentedness that stood out more than usual because of how different it was from just days before.
There has been a lull in snowfall for many more days than the cold temps, and the snow in the paddocks is getting thoroughly beaten down as a result. It remains deep enough in the fields that they have barely ventured beyond the fences but there are some tracks out there.
It’s unclear to me how many of those footprints are evidence of new activity or old tracks emerging as sunny afternoons have started to shrink back some of the coverage.
Yesterday afternoon, I lingered for a long time, leaning against a gate to watch their activity after they had all finished eating from the feed pans. They were just being horses with no urgent agenda.
It made me want to be a horse along with them —a horse during a warm spell on a February day.
When it’s cold again, I want to be a human living indoors.
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Warmth Visits
We are enjoying a welcome break from the harsh depths of the gripping cold that commanded all attention for the previous two weeks. Cyndie said snow and ice sliding off the roof throughout the day created startling noises that jostled sensibilities. Delilah would react with equally startling barks of her own in response.
Walking our trails in the winter, one clearly experiences the dramatic influence the snowpack exerts in holding the temperature down. Think: walking the frozen foods aisle in an otherwise comfortable grocery store. There is a noticeable chill. Walking our trails in the winter when the air temperature rises above freezing is like walking on a refrigerated carpet.
The cold radiates up from below, overcoming the natural order of cold air falling low.
The two pictures above were captured by Cyndie on Saturday as we drove to Pepin. The bottom one could almost be interpreted as being over water instead of the snow that was really there.
Or, maybe that just a reflection of my response to the visit of this February thaw.
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Relative Something 