View From Our House

It's cold. I just checked the outdoor thermometer and expected it to read about -20 degrees, but it was 10 degrees above zero. We've got plenty of very cold weather ahead of us. It was still pretty dark when I got up this morning at 6:30, and this time of year, as the hours of daylight are still dwindling, I have only a few hours of the day when I actually feel productive. By 4:30 PM, as it's starting to get dark again, I feel like hibernating.

My dear husband, the eternal optimist, likes to remind me, 'In just a few weeks the days will be getting longer!' So annoying. I mean, it's true that the days will be getting longer, but those longer days will be cold and snow covered until the end of March!

I never tire of looking at this old barn across the street from our house. I hate to think of the day when it finally collapses and then someone brings in a bulldozer to bury it. The next generation won't know that it ever existed. That's happening so often with the old barns of Wisconsin which used to house small dairy herds that supported a family.

Once the cattle are no longer in the barn to keep it warm, the structure falls victim to the freezing and thawing of our winters and springs. (In Wisconsin, our temperatures will reach -40 degrees F. in the winter and the frosts go down 5+ feet, and sometimes farther, which is why our pipes have to be buried so deep.)

The spruce are so beautiful with the new snow on their branches. They are also just across the street, next to the barn.

A couple of those huge, round bales, looking like frosted Shredded Wheat. On a summer evening, when the bales are scattered across the field, you can squint your eyes and imagine that they're a herd of buffalo. Okay, maybe you can't, but I can...and do.

Our own barn, which hasn't had cows in it for about 25 years, when the former owners had a dairy herd. The barn's not going to be able to stand much longer unless we get it repaired and bring in a nice warm herd of cattle. I remember, as a kid, enjoying being in my uncle's barn because his cows were kept in the barn all winter. We'd throw down hay, help lime the walks, play in the feed alleys, and make a general nuisance of ourselves. There was something about the smell of the cows, the milk, the lime, the hay, the grain, the kittens wandering around, the dog...

The cardinal at our birdfeeder. When I looked out the window, there were a couple downies, juncos, nuthatches, chickadees, cardinals, and bluejays. And even though I sneaked outdoors as quietly and inconspicuously as possible, they all vanished. Surprisingly, after a few minutes the cardinal, usually one of the shy ones, returned. At least I got that shot. Just wish I could have shown you a video of all those birds flying back and forth to the feeder, grabbing seeds and flying off. It was beautiful!

My nearly 10 year old GSD pal, Bridger, loves lying at the edge of the deck (our house is on a hill) and looking out over his domain, part of which he thinks is the neighbor's barn, pictured above. This is where Bridger watches cars go past, keeps an eye out for squirrels and rabbits, and hears the evening coyotes squeal. That's when I make him come indoors. I don't want him getting into it with coyotes.

 What Bridger's Looking At

So that's the view from here. It's cold out there, which is why I'm thankful for a warm house, a fire, two great dogs, two sweet cats, a wonderful husband, and a fire in the stove (not necessarily in that order.) :-)