Snow Big Deal

All fluff, still tough. Cloudy skies? Snow up to your thighs? You can’t be kept down by bad weather. — Chickie Minaj, who is always first out of the coop, rain, snow, or shine.

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Here’s What’s Happening At Good Spirits Farm

I used to be one of those people who spent vacations backpacking through the wilderness and mountain biking down volcanos. About halfway through last week’s snow and ice storm, I realized the point of those all-inclusive tropical resort packages. I could just lay by a pool! All day! While someone brought me pina coladas! Now, it’s all I can think about.

Deep cold and snow are just so physically demanding on a farm. It’s especially hard when the temps stay well below freezing for more than 4-5 days, and I’m forced to haul water by the bucketful out to the herd.

Before the storm hit, we got the round bale into position. As the snow started falling, the critters dug right in.

They moved from eating it to wearing it as conditions deteriorated.

The good news was that my flight to New York was canceled. As much as I was looking forward to the trip, it truly was for the best that Todd wasn’t stuck here alone, trying to keep everyone alive.

Also: I highly recommend meeting a man who owns a four-wheeler. Having a way to haul four buckets at a time across the farm made our 3-times-a-day trough filling a little less laborious.

(Veli, as always, “helped.”)

Sweet old Benni did well riding out the storm in the barn. It was an hour-long task convincing her to leave her friends behind to walk all the way back to the barn. (She is quite slow-moving these days, so I knew this would be a chore, but I didn’t realize *quite* how stubborn she’d be about it.)

Once moved in, though, she never wanted to leave. It turns out that a warm stall with twice-daily grain feedings is the cow equivalent of an all-inclusive tropical resort.) When the weather finally warmed, it was even MORE of a battle to get her back to the pasture!

Day by day, we checked the forecast and told each other: Just three more days before we get above freezing. Just a little while longer until this all gets so much easier.

Somehow, we managed to get through it—and hopefully the worst of this winter is behind us.

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Here’s What I Loved This Week

Even though I didn’t end up leaving, knowing I could have left the farm in Todd’s hands and everyone would have survived was so comforting. Having a partner to bust ice on troughs and haul hay and buckets made the work a little less miserable. And seeing his love and care for all the critters, (like Grace Plopper, named for Grace Hopper, one of this year’s spring chicks), always fills my heart with joy.