WINTER'S SWAN SONG

I hope this last snowstorm was Winter's swan song. It looks like it might have been. The forecast is for high temps above freezing all week.

Yesterday I shoveled paths to the chicken coop and the car parking area. I have a snowblower in the garage but I haven't needed it all year. We just got increments of two or three inches with every storm and just packed it down. It never seemed enough to take out the snowblower. It usually sits on the front porch in the Winter. It was a toss-up whether it was worth wading through a foot or more of snow for 50 yards to the garage or just shovel.

Today I have been busy shoveling snow from in front of my barn door. The snow slid off the roof and it was easily three foot deep in front of the door. When I got down to the ground I discovered the bottom of the door was frozen in a couple of inches of ice. Apparently it was warm enough previous to the snowstorm to cause snow to melt off the roof and freeze the door in place. I chipped for about one half hour and decided a chemical solution might be better. I feed the sheep outside with big bales and I don't go in the barn every day. When I do have reason to go into the barn every day this doesn't get to be this big a problem. I have always been able to chisel the door free in a few minutes. The barn is a hundred yards from the house and unless we are lambing or have some other concern I don't go in every day.

I need to get into the barn to access some hay. The big bales are running out and my sheep are going to start looking at me with jaundiced eyes if I don't have some hay for them.

Despite being blanketed in deep snow there is definitely a promise of Spring in the air. It has been a beautiful snow experience. It is a spectacular scene. I almost, but not quite, don't want to see the snow disappear from the tree branches. Spring beckons. February wanes and anything can happen in March.

I am not prepared to talk about the geo-political or national realities extant. The world is nuts. However, I see hope behind the extreme polarization and the division and chaos that it causes. We need to resist all attempts to herd us into 'we' or 'they' camps. Truth is always love.

Let us keep our heads high, our feet grounded in the good earth and open our hearts to find love for all sides. Good things are on the horizon.

Love and Peace, Gregg