Calm and quiet(er)

Ahh! Rifle season for deer is over, and the brutal wind that has torn across Roundtop Mountain this week has diminished. This morning the dogs got their normal walk in the woods instead of the shorter one that kept us all away from spots where the hunters sat. And despite the 14 degree temperature, without that wind this morning’s pre-dawn walk was both comfortable and enjoyable.

The dogs were wild of course. Shorter walks for nearly two weeks do not make for calm dogs.

Snow showers flit across the mountain today. Sometimes I can see by the clouds that snow is falling, but it doesn’t always reach the ground. By Saturday the temperature might even break freezing for the first time in a week, but I’m not going to hold my breath on that one.

The chickens’ water freezes solid overnight and freezes pretty solid during the day. I have two waterers for them and switch them out between morning and evening. The chickens are usually all on the roost when I switch out the water in the evening, so I don’t know if they have a chance to drink much of before it freezes solid. I don’t have electricity out to the chickens, and I’ve tried so-called solar sippers, but the bottom line is the girls don’t have many hours of opportunity to get a drink before the water freezes.

This winter is supposed to be a la nina year, which in this area typically means a winter is warmer and wetter than normal. So far neither of those things are true, but I’ve been around long enough to know that a cold start to the winter in December doesn’t necessarily predict anything about the rest of the winter. Warmer and wetter than average could still be the case later on. At this point, I’d be happy with less wind and more sunshine. We do appear to be making progress on the less wind part, but not so much with the sunshine.