As I sit here at my computer, trying to find something new to share with you, the sun is splashing here and there outside my window in funny little shapes and splotches. It looks like it’s dancing with the shadows, teasing the spindly branches of all the trees that huddle together against the wind, pouring through the pine needles and trunks with a promise that spring is coming… eventually. But it’s still cold outside, and the snow is deep and heavy as if it might never go away. It’s still winter outside, and it feels right now like it might always be.
It’s funny how winter can do that – make everything seem quiet and uneventful and oh so very long.
Now that we’re stuck in February, there’s babies being born, one after the other, day after day. We’ve just had our third set of twins, which is something we haven’t seen in a very long time, and the corrals are crowded with new life almost like a maternity ward.
There are other things happening too, that we just catch small glimpses of here and there. Not too long ago a young bobcat visited the farmhouse, coming right up to the yard, and another one found a fresh kill to eat in a nearby field.
A pack of wolves passed through our back property, leaving only giant paw prints in the snow as a sign they’d been here, and for a while we had a bit of a fight with a herd of elk who thought they had every right to hang around and eat our hay, until we finally put up a fence around the hayshed to keep them from destroying the cows food.
Just a couple days ago on my drive up, I passed an eagle sitting low on a branch, eyeing the river closely for any passing fish.
So life is still happening, even if it feels like it’s come to a standstill. The wonder of creation is still wonderful, and unusual and worth watching.
The cows are curious and silly and if you drive by you’ll often find them waiting impatiently for their hay as if they hadn’t been fed just hours ago. They like to stand at the fence and scratch themselves, leaving long lines of hairballs across the wire like a string of giant… pearls?
and their babies are often running and jumping and playing tag, or sleeping in the hay. If you wander close they’ll all turn their heads to watch and see what you might do to entertain them.
So come on by and have yourself a look, or drop in for coffee and a chat, winter’s the perfect time to visit or say hello.
Rooted & Established 