It’s a week before Christmas, Rudy is on the road, and I don’t really expect to see him anytime soon. Change of plans. He had a haul to Artesia and I will have my husband for one night only. As I said when we decided to go this route I will take whatever I can get. As it turns out he may be here a little longer. He woke up at 1:30 in the morning sicker than a dog. Well at least he is close to home and I can give him some real TLC. He comes in and boy is he sick. His eyes are circles of white and his cheeks are flushed. He thought it might be food poisoning, but one look tells me no he has a bug. I doctor up a can of chicken soup, which goes right through him, and put him to bed early. Nothing got done except feeding as a storm is rolling in and the winds have been around 35 – 40 mph all day. I let the little ones (inside dogs) out to find that it is snowing. About time. La Nina is in full swing, which means unlike last year, this will be a dry windy winter. Living on top of a plateau we get the full force of the winds, which are sometimes up to 70 mph or more. No one told us about the winds when we decided to move here.
There was no sun to wake me so I slept in to about 7:15 am. Everything is white. Up till now it has been more like an Indian summer even into fall only going down to the low 30’s at night. Not this morning. I rush to let the dogs out and make a fire. Benji who was my mother-in-law’s dog has never seen snow. She died this past spring and we inherited Benji. Tucson is a might different from Capitan, NM. He stands at the door not knowing what to do. He doesn’t understand why everything is white. I don’t have time for such silliness so out the door he goes whether he wants to or not.
I stoke the stove for hot coals and put another log in the fire. Rudy gets up shortly and still looks pukey. I’m not doing so good myself. My entire right leg aches. Don’t you love genetics? Take my advise, and don’t get old. It’s the pits, and whoever said these were the golden years was either on something or very young. I take extra pills while I make coffee for Rudy and ask him what he’s going to do. The original plan was for him to go back on the road, but unless he has one of those hospital things under his seat I don’t think he’s going to make it. I go and feed while he decides whether or not he’s going to be able to drive.
I warm up the truck and there is the normal deafening barks of four dogs who are all trying to kill each other, get my attention, or kill me while I try to walk. I get the truck started and go to let the chickens out. They’re all snuggled in their boxes and have no intention of moving. I make sure their water is full. One big problem, even though I left it in the chicken house so it wouldn’t freeze, it decided otherwise. Too bad, so sad, there’s enough there if they want it.
I trip over dogs trying to get to the truck and off we go to the barn. To keep the peace I’ve been letting Bear in the truck while I drive to the barn, and he doesn’t understand why today is different. So what if he has muddy feet and snow all over him from playing, that shouldn’t make a difference. Yeah right, not in my world, he can run to the barn.
When we get there everyone is all excited. So why haven’t I fed them yet, I’ve been there for at least two minutes? Marina voices her disdain at having to wait for me to actually get her hay. As usual I feed her as fast as I can just to keep her quiet. I quickly run through everyone else in the barn stalls, yelling at Espree to quit as she bangs on the stall walls. She gets fed last and is at least as impatient as Marina.
Finally peace and quiet, all the girls and the youngsters in the barn have been fed. Quickly I load up the truck bed with the rest of the fodder for my starving kids. Even though they are nice and plump for the winter’s cold you’d think they never got fed the way they are carrying on. I feed the boys who are running and rearing in the crisp cold air and turn to the girls in pasture who are doing their own winter dance. I take off my gloves to take pictures. This first snow must be recorded. Upset with me for taking pictures they voice their displeasure. Lightning is bucking and rearing, and throwing her head as only Arabians can do. I quickly snap shots and get back in the truck. If I take too long I may have an ugly mob on my hands.
Off I go to feed the rest of the crew, the chickens still haven’t come off their roost. I throw some hay and feed on the ground and still they won’t come out. Ok, as usual I give in and I throw feed in the chicken house. Heaven forbid they should go outside in the freezing cold. I don’t even have a jacket on, but they can’t come out to eat. Yes all our animals are spoiled.
I get home in the early afternoon and by now my legs and arms are voicing their complete disregard for my comfort. I have to break down and take a muscle relaxer. Rudy is going back to bed for a nap, and I lay down on the heating pad hoping to convince my body that it really likes the cold. I get some relief just in time to feed again. When I came home from my errands, I put a chicken on and by now it is falling off the bone. I take some of the stock for real chicken soup and put it to simmer while I feed. We have a lovely evening, I put Rudy to bed early and I come to the computer room to wonder where the day has gone yet again. I upload the pictures from my camera, posting them to my webshots and begin to write.
I thought when I lost my job and had the opportunity to stay home and take care of the ranch full time, I would get all these wonderful things done. Oh the plans I had. Well I have gotten some things done, but only a fraction of what I planned. Most days seem to dissolve and fade before they’ve even started, and at days end I wonder at the fact that yet again another day has passed with out my getting anywhere near what I planed to accomplish that day. Granted I have had issues with medications to control my pain, yet still and all I thought I could really do more. Oh well such is life. We will forge ahead and tomorrow is another day.
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