snow!

We're getting a lot for us, and it's quite beautiful. Thus far, the Corgis are having a blast, the cats have mostly all had sled rides courtesy of my daughter, Salina and the geldings have been out, but the donkeys are staying warm and dry in the barn.



The mystical snow kit:



Why we sometimes call the pony Tangerine Dream:



A wonderful ice picture M. took this past week:



Often enough, when we get snow it melts within the day, but this is significant enough that it will apparently be here at least until Thursday. Husband found deer tracks up to the tree by the barn this a.m. I guess at least one deer wanted to say hello. :)

beginning of a quiet week

We're back above freezing, with night temps going to the 20s and the possibility of a few inches of snow tonight, and although I'm ready for drier ground, it might be fun to see the horses and donkeys and cats and Corgis play in the white stuff.

In a little while, I'll head out to do the chores, which I suspect will include adding some shavings to stalls, and I need to make a run to the feed store later in the day as well.

Last night I watched Legends of the Fall, which I originally watched during what we call the "sleepy years" - the time during and after pregnancies when most movie watching in the evenings involved me dozing off after a short period of time, no matter how engaging the movie.

There are a number of films that, when asked if I've seen them, the answer is "sort of." Often I would wake up at odd moments, see a bit of a scene, then fall back asleep. I usually caught the final credits when nudged by my husband that the movie was over.

Anyway, I had a vague memory of Legends of the Fall, and that I had been quite captivated by it, and it has been in my Netflix queue for awhile. Since it was a "watch instantly" movie, last night I decided it was time to watch.

What a story - I loved the farmhouse and the setting particularly. It was one of those movies that had me racing to Google after, putting Jim Harrison titles (I've read a few already) in my Amazon cart for future reference and reading interviews.

He said something that I love, about writing:

I think it's interesting what someone there said to me once -- it's something that I hadn't thought before, and it startled me. He told me that (the French) read me because in my fiction you have the life of relative action but also the life of the mind. In so much fiction we have one or the other, but never both. We tend to try to separate them. You find that in Barry's work as well -- this marvelously convoluted thinking system but yet people are still doing something.

Nice to begin the week feeling inspired and justified in my writing style. Maybe I should be querying European agents. :)

The life of the mind. I just love that.

the highlight of a very cold day

On this cold day, I fretted over icy troughs, hauled many buckets of hot water from the house, adjusted blankets multiple times, fed a warm lunch to the herd in the event they didn't have enough hay (we now have a new round bale and an extra coming tomorrow), fussed at my children when I felt I was doing all the work (I wasn't), and got very upset when a neighbor's ATV cut a rut in the lane.

However, there was a very bright and warm spot that made all the rest of my day better, and this was it:

busy and cold, sending warmth

Yesterday was busy with kids and activities and getting ready for the cold dip last night, and today my aim is to keep horses warm and happy, and to come back in frequently to a warm spot by the woodstove and work on edits.

Right now Kyra the Corgi and Dickens the cat are sharing a dog bed by the fire, a nice image on a cold morning.

Since so many folks are having extremely cold weather right now, I'm going to keep thinking warm all day long, and hope some of that energy finds its way to anyone who needs it.

back in the sun, but still cold

Added note the Second:

I just walked down the back path with a huge wheelbarrow, squeaking and groaning, when I spotted something flap one time. I stopped and looked and it was the red tail, sitting in the woods. I thought it might be hurt. I squatted down and just looked at it, and we shared a long gaze. Then I went through the very back fence (which is not our horse fencing but the outer fencing, barbed wire) and it allowed me to get just 3 feet away. I squatted down again and we both just sat there, gazing some more. It was gorgeous.

Four crows were flying back and forth overhead, cawing away, and then the hawk looked at me, looked down, took up a squirrel it must have just killed, and flew through the trees and away. The crows went crazy, and another red tail went after them while the first one flew off with the squirrel.

I was speechless. What a day!

*******

Added note:

When I was out just now extending the hay trail, I was looking around wondering where the red tail was. Just at that moment I heard the call, from above, and looked up to see THREE of them whirling in big circles overhead. Which is, by the way, pretty much exactly what happens in the final scene of this book.

The synchronicity of nature and animals never ceases to amaze me. :)

*******

Late in the afternoon yesterday the sun came out, and just as the brilliant sunset began to light up the sky with bright blue and deep orange, the horses decided to have a party. I heard the hooves from the big barnyard, thundering up the hill out front, and looked up to see Keil Bay in full gallop, followed closely by Apache Moon, and then Cody.

Salina had wisely gone to the corner to stay clear of the geldings, and Rafer Johnson, being the incredibly intelligent donkey that he is, wanted to run wild but also wanted to stay safe, so he galloped up to the dirt paddock and had his own little rodeo, circling and bucking and braying. Redford was torn between guarding Salina and joining Rafer's show, so he trotted back and forth between the two.

I heard the red tail calling after everyone had settled down, and followed the sound to the front field, where it flew up to a low branch and settled there to watch me and the horses for what felt like a very long time. Another red tail call was coming from the other side of the house, which makes me wonder if they've built a nest and perhaps the one is on guard. There haven't been red tails this close since we moved in, so I'm curious and especially intrigued with their presence now.

Today is more sunshine, and cold again, with the temps dropping over the next two days to a low of 11 on Friday night. I've ordered a new blanket for Salina, who has been alternating between her lightweight (and not waterproof) fleece and the older mid-weight blanket that has a ripped lining thanks to Cody. She prefers the fleece, but when the temps drop this much it just isn't enough, so she has a new Schneiders' coming, and I sure hope the UPS van gets it here so she can wear it Thursday night and on through the day/night on Friday.

I have more editing to do today, and just remembered that the final scene in the book involves red tail hawks. Maybe they've come to shepherd me through this edit - and hopefully spread some of their visionary magic across the pages in the process.