Friday, January 26, 2007

winter

Today was one of those very cold, quiet mornings that seemed almost holy. The horses walked slowly up the hill and I realized their steps were tentative because the ground was frozen hard beneath their hooves, especially odd, I imagine, after these weeks of mucky earth that gave way up to their fetlocks in some places.

I fed breakfast and removed blankets amid soft snorts and the quiet crunch of feed, and then went out to open the back field, throw hay, and check water tubs.



Evidence of winter. The sheet in the back field's trough was solid and broke into a perfect puzzle.

The trough in the paddock had already been broken early this morning, and the puzzle pieces were still intact, pieces of green pressed beneath like specimens under glass.



I sat out and watched for a bit as the horses methodically stopped by the trough, drank, and then found the hay piles. Mid-morning in winter and all is just fine in this little corner of the world.

8 comments:

Anonymous said...

Your broken ice pile is much lovelier than the one I made this morning :-)

Joni said...

Very nice. Of course, tomorrow it will be spring again. LOL If only for a day or so.

Your winter morning sounds and looks lovely. Thanks for sharing it.

Jason Evans said...

Nice pix... It was very cold and calm Friday morning... This place does feel like an alternate reality sometimes...

billie said...

No ice this morning ... but a broken water pipe from yesterday that has to be repaired, an arena that needs harrowing, and three horses and a pony with a horse-sized attitude who all need some work...

I intend to devote several hours to writing as well.

Hope you all have a wonderful day/weekend..

billie

shara said...

All that and writing too? I think I should quit complaining about having too much in the way of chores and not enough in the way of free time to make things. :)

billie said...

Water pipe got fixed, arena did NOT get harrowed. My horse did not get worked, either, as I got very caught up in the writing and felt I needed to follow that flow.

Sometimes (often?) I have to let one thing go to follow the other.

The first thing to go, always, is the deeper house cleaning. I'm considering vacuuming "deep," mind you!

It is a precarious, precious balance, following all the paths, but when I keep my expectations reasonable, it works. :)

billie

shara said...

What's this "deeper house cleaning" you speak of?

billie said...

Shara,

Ha - anything that gets beneath that top layer, which around here means assorted and sundry items we have all left scattered about: books, papers, dishes, etc.

A deeper cleaning would be to actually clean the floor after sweeping. Or remove the slipcover and wash the chocolate stain out.

I love a clean house, but I am no longer willing to give it priority over creative endeavors.

I recently re-read Housekeeping, a wonderful and short novel that made me smile - although it is not in any way only about housekeeping, in the sense I'm speaking of here, there are descriptions that felt so on target. I love that book.

billie