Weather Rerun

Snow and More Snow

I am awaiting the onslaught of the heavy snow. We already have several inches from this morning and today, but the heave snowfall should be here in two or three hours.  I am SO tired of it.

I apologized to Tucker tonight when I went out to feed. telling him I had no control over the weather. He was looking as me as if to say, "When are we going to get rid of this stuff?"   He was also watching me shovel the path to the barn for the second time today, and I suspect he would have liked me to do some shoveling in the paddocks.

I've been dumping the wheelbarrow at the edge of the riding arena since the Christmas storm, so that pile is getting ever bigger. I am optimistic that the tractor will make moving the manure to the back of the property an easy task once things thaw out, but you never know.  Without digging extensive and repeated paths to the farther manure pile, I am making the best of what is now perpetual snow cover.

I have to wonder how animals in the wild cope. Of course, a lot of them go into hibernation, either partial or complete, for the worst of the winter. But it has to be hard on the creatures who stay awake and have to feed themselves.  Around here, with the woodland, there are small bushes and trees to offer some forage for deer and other grazing animals. I guess the birds would do OK even if I didn't feed them as there are various berries and seed pods still accessible. Meateaters would, of course, prey upon the other critters out there looking for food, so somehow nature tends to take care of its own. But all the snow has to complicate things.

My horses, for example, would have a hard time finding good food sources.  We don't have excessive grasslands, and even if we did, most of them would be buried in the snow, making it a hard job to paw through to reach the grazing.  The cut cornfield might offer some edible stalks and for the lucky browser, ears of left over corn.  And, I think the farmer did not plow under the pumpkin patch, so it's possible there may be some leftover pumpkins out there too.

The battle against winter's elements makes me all the more diligent in keeping my Boys well fed with hay and, of course, their grain rations.  The thought of their being hungry this time of year makes me shudder.

I only wish every horseowner felt the same way.  I keep reading horror stories of horses being starved, and it makes me cringe.

At least I know my Boys are doing fine despite the weather.

On another topic entirely--apparently the road snowplow hit my mailbox and knocked it off its post.  This is the same mailbox the guy hit when he drove off the road this summer.  I managed to reset it on the pole with new screws, but now it's broken off again.  Rubbermaid no longer makes this box, so it's essentially irreplaceable.  I tied it back on for the time being with some baling twine, but that is far from secure.  Some bungee cords might work better, but, of course, replacing the screws--if I can--is the only real option for repair.  But who the heck can do that in the middle of a snowstorm??

One more task to keep me entertained or annoyed, I guess. *sigh*