Author: Elaine

Cold Snap

We got the forecast cold (-9F) but not the forecast snow. There is an inch or so of new snow, just enough to make things look pretty. We were slightly concerned when the lights flickered several times last night before we went to bed, and I was reassured to wake up in the middle of the night and find out that we still had electricity.

The horses, viewed from the house this morning, look fine. Hap is doing airs above the ground while Rags sees what he can find in the outside hay feeders. I threw hay to them in the barn yesterday afternoon, and called down blessings on whoever invented stock tank heaters. I can’t imagine taking care of horses during a cold snap like this without stock tank heaters.

The Calm Before the Storm

Sunrise

“They” are predicting significant snowfall today, and a high tomorrow of 1F. I am hoping that “they” are wrong. Since we are tucked up against the Palmer Divide, which is a snowfall magnet during big storms, we usually get close to the maximum amounts forecast for the area. I will never forget talking to Jack (who was in Texas at the time of the October 97 blizzard) about my worries of getting lost on my way to the horse field. He suggested I follow the extension cord that then led from the house to the stock tank. I looked out at four feet of snow, with near whiteout conditions, and thought “The man has no idea.” Fortunately, we now have fencing that contains the complete path between the house and the barn, so getting misdirected during a whiteout is no longer a risk.

Smoke’s Image

Smoke\'s Image
Smoke’s Image 1977-2005
Two weeks ago, I realized that a decision that we knew we would have to make about Smoke sooner or later was going to be sooner. Saturday, I watched him lurch down the hill to the barn and saw that his right knee, which had been bad for a long time, had given up functioning all together. Bute gave him a little relief through the weekend, and today his vet came out and put him down. Jack and a friend came to be with me while it happened.

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