Arctic chill

I'm finally done.  The temperature is dropping and I'm finally done getting ready for it.  We've had some chilly weather already, but tonight a wall of cold arctic air is supposed to slam into us at 35 miles per hour.

In years past, I've treated that sort of thing rather casually.  Our first year back in the country, I paid lip service to winterizing our pipes (this is before we had any animals or plants) and the end result was a house that was uninhabitable for about 4 days, a broken down suburban, and a back door destroyed by my hammer when I ran out to the house in a borrowed truck to get something I left behind, and forgot the house key.

Often times, the price of wisdom is scars.  I spent the last two days getting ready for tonight.  Yesterday, the kids helped me bring in and stack a week's worth of well seasoned oak wood from pasture stashes, for the fireplace, along with a mountain of kindling wood.  The oldest boy went all around the farmstead with me, winterizing exposed pipes and hose bibs and emptying hoses.  We ended the day like we began it, in the dark.

Today, I butchered the two Christmas geese, a surprisingly sad affair.  After that, I spent time building and outfitting a winter hut for Beulah, our faithful Jersey milk cow.  When the boy brought her in out of the pasture, she settled right in to her little hotspot and ate a bite of cubes.  The 50 baby chicks in the brooder didn't need much, but I did place a barrier it and the cracks I'm sure the arctic air will find.

My wife's grandmother said they always waited for a "blue norther" to butcher the pig.  It was a good idea then, it's a good idea now and that's what we'll do tomorrow.  But for now, it's time to sit by the fire, pray the family rosary,and afterwards smoke my pipe and wait.