We have officially hit the middle of winter in Minnesota
The thing I love about this time of year is that the cold weather really forces you to be deliberate. No one wants to spend more time outside than they have to, so you learn to economize your time out of doors. Need to run to the market? Best stop at the store attached to the mall where you need to pick up a new cell phone battery. Kids need a project done for school? I’m sure we can find something in the house that can be repurposed for tag board. Do I really need to run out for cream, or should I just try to embrace coffee with skim milk?
Additionally, it forces me to be intentional during my trips to the barn. If I don’t have it on me when I get down there, then the critters go without. At least until the next trip some 10 hours later. The wind slaps my cheeks as I leave the house and by the time I reach the barn door they are red and angry. Toes lose their pulse and fingers ache. The wind has blown any bit of loose snow back over and filled in my path, making each step into the knee deep snow effort filled. (Especially when one is balancing buckets of water.)
Once in the barn, I love my moments with the animals. I love feeling the warmth of the horses as I check under their blankets, ensuring they are just warm enough. The barn cats follow me into the pasture as I lay out the horses hay. They walk in my foot steps and quickly pounce on the flakes of hay to save their paws from the bitter ground. Ebenezer, one of the young male cats, loves to stand on my boots as I disperse the hay. And Manny the other young male consistently likes to climb the back of my pants, as if I will not notice the claws of death drilling into my skin through my frozen jeans. When I pick any of them up, the purring is deafening.
The horses seem to appreciate my efforts even more than usual at this time of the year. They are more patient as I gather their grain, and more orderly moving to their respective feed areas. It is as if they know I had an option to stay inside the warm house. The hens are the first to tell me that the cold weather merits more food, especially the oats they love so much. They follow me back and forth through the barn until I allow them their morning portion of chicken scratch. The bunnies are motionless as I look for signs of breathing, each one perched under their heat lamp, only willing to move if I toss in some yummy dried fruit or a carrot. Mui Mui the female cat has taken to sitting with JoJo the bunny under her heat lamp and while they know the rumors this may cause, the two girls seem contented to share heat and bear the burden of the barnyard talk.
Yes, my time in the barn on days like these is short. I yearn for the long visits during the spring thaw and the fall harvest time. But I have to be honest in saying that this time, while more uncomfortable at best, is to me far more meaningful than the times when the air is dry and warm and the earth is in bloom.
These are the times that test my inner suburban girl and bring forth the toughened farm wife from my soul. These moments make the easy time even sweeter, yet they are still sweet in and of themselves. For during these days I am the center of the world for my animals in the barn. No foraging for themselves through the frozen tundra. They need me. If I did not attend to their water, the frozen pond would not spring forth refreshment for them. If the hay was not brought down, no green grass would appear for their pleasure. I am needed.
I appreciate that some of you might think this is a sacrifice, why do it? Board your horses else where, buy eggs from the store, why do you need a bunny anyway? But for me, I see this as a great honor. I have been given the blessing of these animals, entrusted in my care, sharing their best with me during the “easy” times, how could I not repay them by being with them during the “difficult” times?
They look to me for their sustenance, they have faith that I will come back in the morning or evening and feed them again, just as I have faith that my father in heaven will feed, clothe, and bless me again. His timing may be later than I’d hoped, the food different than I thought, but everyday his blessings are anew, his grace is anew. May you know how loved you are during the warm seasons of your life and during the moments that look like a vast tundra.
