The Gray Days of Winter

The day after Christmas was always such a melancholy day for me, starting when I was a child. Of course I know the true meaning of Christmas, and it always gives me cause to reflect on the year just about to finish. But it also marks the beginning of a long cold winter ahead. The prognosticators said we wouldn't have a white Christmas, and they were right. The snow is getting here just in time to miss all the festivities...early morning shredding of Christmas wrapping, cooking marathons, and a quiet dinner with just the four of us. It had been a long time since Jo and I had sat down at the table with our two sons, now nearly grown. Max has been off to college now for three semesters, and Dylan will finish High School this Spring.


And now we prepare for the first big storm of the season. Of course it won't be anything like last winter. Two feet of snow, on top of two more left us paralyzed for weeks. The alpacas could only huddle together in the barn, with only the occasional trip outside for necessities. But now, we're prepared. A new tractor in the barn gives us the ability to move those mountains of snow that are sure to come.

Other than the inconvenience of being stranded in the barn, the alpacas don't seem to mind. They've put on their best winter coats and seem to be just fine modeling their ice crystal overcoats. Now the true meaning of farming comes back to us. We take care of them, and they take care of us. By spring, the snow will be gone, and they'll be happy to shed their coats to enjoy the sunshine of summer.

Our intrepid barn cat, Stella, has certainly done her job, ridding the barn of squeaky invaders. But she's replaced them with her own crew of fluffy barn kittens. Her first, "Little Cat" is nearly grown now. And now her second litter brought five more little gray-striped puff balls. Now we just have to watch where we walk. Since the cold weather started, I put in a water delivery system that Jo calls "Smith Family Robinson" It's just a PVC pipe that doesn't freeze and allows us to fill buckets without trudging to the well. Stella thinks the best tasting water is only found at this new aqueduct. She patiently waits for the bucket to move so she can get a fresh drink from the well.







As we finish feeding, we now have to put the feeding dishes up on the fence posts, so we can find them when we come back in the morning to do it all again.

Good night, furry friends. Stay warm. Spring will be here before you know it.