The Great Thaw.....

What was once a beautiful view (the same view as what you see in the last and second to last)

The day after the tornado and some of our stuff strewn everywhere

March 12th 2009

March 15 2009

It has been a horribly difficult Winter with long stretches that dipped into the depths of absolutely frigid with average hovering around -10 for weeks at a time. If you look at these two images, it is amazing that they are only 3 days apart.

Now we get to move into the period of nothing but mud, mud everywhere! Post tornado has been a challenge with the barn and the melt off has posed many problems that we did not anticipate after deciding to repair the barn. We went out yesterday and had about 3 inches of standing water in the aisle way which means that it would freeze overnight and leading the horses out it would have been a skating rink. So, we laid down about 5 bales of hay to try and keep the water at bay. This morning I went out and the stalls are nothing but mud and mud is not a horses friend as far as their feet and standing in it for long periods. There is a condition that is called Thrush and it is a bacteria that develops in the hoof when a horse stands in mud for long periods and it can be very problematic.

So, I guess I am going to have to leave them out in the field for the next week until things dry out. The challenges seem to never end and as I look at the pictures above I am reminded of the giant trees that once stood there and now all that is left is the decaying bones of what was once a beautiful grove of evergreens.

I try and look beyond all of it and I just can't, it is sad and depressing and I just can't seem to get out of the funk. I want to move away and start over but I also know that there more yet here for us and the time is not now.

So, I will till the land, repair the acres of fencing, plant new seeds and hope that the fondness for this land will return and not be wrought by images of terror and destruction and broken bits of this and that.