Blessings, and waiting for spring

Everyone is talking about how tired of winter they are.

I know it's normal "talk" for this time of year, but usually Februaries have been gray, bleak, little or no snow on the ground, and what IS there is black with gunk and even more depressing to look at than bare dirt.  

Now it's March, and the snow of this winter just won't quit.  

I went to put the dogs outside this morning, too tired to look out the door before I opened it, and was stunned to open the door to a swirling snowstorm.  

Listening to the weather radio yesterday, I nearly cheered at the news that it *might* get up to the mid 20's yesterday and today.  And then the glum feeling set back in as the robotic weather announcer went on to describe another roller coaster of below zero windchills and highs into the low 30's over the course of the next week.  I hadn't made a mental note of the coming snowstorm, apparently.

So, I was thinking that it might take an effort to be thankful, and have been working on a mental list:

The 20 year old furnace has kept working through the worst winter it's probably ever heated this house for.

The doors of the barn are frozen, but there is still one door in the back that we can trudge to with bags of feed going in, or just to go in and out doing the usual chores.  We won't need to break any doors down or climb a ladder to the second-floor hay-mow doors in order to take care of the animals inside the barn.

The feed ran out for the cows and the chickens, but the feed mill was able to bag and deliver enough feed for the next 2 months.

The feed bags needed to be unloaded onto the garage porch (front door of the barn is frozen shut, remember), but no rodents have discovered the feed.....yet.  It will be hauled a bag at a time around the back of the barn as needed until the front barn door is unfrozen.

The driveway may be a slick of ice, but both of our vehicles are 4-wheel drive.  And I've found unexpected challenges in getting into and out of our driveway, but in the process have become familiar with that 4 wheel drive.  Unexpectedly, I am doing better than ever as the tires slip and slide and now I don't panic if the car slides just a little bit.  In fact, it's been kind of fun (to the point where our adult daughter laughed at me as I plowed into and out of the driveway with her in the passenger seat one wintry day.  "Jeez, Mom!  You and your 4-wheel drive truck!").  Kind of fun to surprise my daughter with a bit of new-found tough attitude.  :)

With temps getting not just to the mid 20's yesterday but into the low 30's, I was able to get the outside spigot to work, unfurled the Pocket Hoses (4 of them, end to end, making up 200 feet of hose) and filled the water trough, all 200 gallons of it!  (The 5 surviving goldfish were quite happy to have water again, instead of a few inches of sludge at the bottom!)  AND, the flash of bright orange fishies swimming in the cows' water in the middle of winter made me smile.  :)

At least one of our 2 babydoll sheep is looking a bit rotund.  It could be winter fat.  It could be winter wool.  Or it could be a lamb (or twins?) that would be born in late April/early May.

The pigs are growing and entertaining us with their gross noises and boisterous presence and funny wagging tails......The remaining chickens are surviving without their rooster's presence....The flock of 6 ducks is getting a little twitter-pated and ACTING like spring is here at least.....the geese are toying with the notion of sitting on their 2 nests of eggs.....the cows are starting to shed (a sure sign of spring, right?) and playing in the pasture.....the rabbits have survived and are also shedding everywhere.......the barn cats are venturing out into the snow to explore.....the new roof on the barn has worked wonderfully.....the pasture seed arrived.....the garden seeds are sorted and waiting.....we planned accurately and still have a good supply of hay instead of scrambling to line up a few bales to buy here and there to take us through until spring.....

See, there are so many blessings, just on these 2 tiny acres.

Winter could continue in earnest for the next 3 weeks (I sure hope not!), but if I just keep reminding myself of the blessings that occur on a daily basis, I think the looming seasonal depression can be banished.

It might be the most challenging winter in memory for just about anyone you talk to these days, but.....

if you can look back at it and know that you fought and won and maybe even learned some new things, that's a blessing right there.

 

Laura
http://dykstrasfarm.blogspot.com/