It was a wild day, woke up this morning to an awful ice storm, we and the animals could barely move, a few hours later, the temperature was in the mid-50’s, the snow and ice was gone and a fierce wind blew limbs off of trees, blew glass out of barn windows and drove the animals deep into the Pole Barn.

None of this deterred Maria (or me, for that matter), we went out to visit the animals, make sure they were okay – the wind was literally howling. Food calms them, so does grooming and brushing, they came out into the muddy pasture to be with us, they reminded us that they need human attention, it grounds them and keeps them at ease. When the wind shrieks like that, the animals get nervous and restless, they rushed to be with us and stayed close.

We brushed and groomed them, then Maria sat with them in the Pole Barn.

Things are calming down now, and tomorrow looks like normal winter cold, below freezing but above zero, where it belongs in mid-February. I hear you, Mother Earth, you are talking to me.