The scurs’ disappointment continues as the Weather Eye remains in a cold weather rut. Will the worm finally turn or will we just have worms? Starting Wednesday, mostly sunny with highs in the mid-teens with lows near zero. Thursday, partly sunny with a slight chance of evening snow. Highs in the mid- teens with lows in the upper single digits above zero. Partly sunny on Friday with highs in the mid-20’s and lows in the upper teens. Saturday, cloudy with a good chance of snow. Highs in the mid-30’s with lows in the mid-20’s. Mostly cloudy for Sunday with a good chance of forenoon snow. Highs in the low 30’s with lows in the mid-teens. Monday, partly sunny with highs in the mid-20’s and lows in the upper teens. Partly sunny for Tuesday with highs in the low 30’s and lows in the mid-20’s. On March 7th we will see over 11 hours and 30 minutes of daylight, roughly the same as we had back on October 5th. The normal high for March 7th is 35 and the normal low is 19. The scurs will have their hands full after receiving all the fan mail for an improving weather pattern. Oh, and don’t forget to get up at 2 a.m. Sunday morning to set your clocks ahead. Group hug!
Another week of ugly weather to end February and start March out like a lion. Below-zero high temperatures in March? You heard it here first. We seem to be taking our sweet time to warm up and in the long haul that may be a good thing from a flooding perspective. A slow burn will let the water in the snow go more gradually and lessen the chances for flooding. The good news is that the snow falling in early February was relatively dry. The unfortunate thing is there was a lot of it. February snowfall totals for New Richland measured 36.9” and at the ranch 37.9”. Seasonal total snowfall for New Richland stands at 73” and at the ranch 75.7”. Another positive is the frost depth under that heavy blanket of snow has remained relatively constant. At the SROC in Waseca, 19” seems to be about as deep as it has gone. Once we can get some dark soil to peek through, it may not take as long as one might think if temperatures begin to cooperate, particularly if the snow cover to our south in Iowa leaves. The two often go hand in hand for us.
The deep snow however has become problematic when it comes to filling the birdfeeders. Fortunately I still have my snowshoes, the old-fashioned ash and rawhide kind, just like Sgt. Preston of the Yukon used to wear. Even though they’re not the high tech models, they still work great. It’s amazing how much snow one can just walk over the top of without breaking through. They certainly made filling the feeders for the smaller birds a breeze. Of particular concern though was making sure the pheasant feeder was filled with ear corn. They’ve been emptying it within a few days of each refill. The last time I filled it after the blizzard I sank up to my waist in spots. Enough of that. Once I donned the snowshoes and filled the bucket with ear corn we made it look easy. There were close to a dozen pheasants that flew off as I approached, a large proportion of them hens. If we can get them through this rough stretch at least they’ll have a chance.
Lambing has picked up the pace and is moving faster than it appeared it once would. After the last week’s arrivals we’re about 3/4 done. As one wise observer noted, we’ll probably be done just in time for it to warm up. It’s been brutal dealing with the cold and snow. We’ve wrung about as much fun out of hauling buckets of warm water across the yard as we possibly can. The snow removal that seemed like a piece of cake in December and the first half of January turned ugly. It’s imperative to keep the small feed, lot cleaned out. Even on some of the coldest days the ewes want to be out wandering around and accessing their hay mangers even after they’ve been fed inside. Overall, the animals seem to be handling this better than we are. Of course none of them are over 60 years old either.
Last week I was able to help someone who was having car trouble. They needed a ride to Ike’s after their car refused to move once put in gear. It was no problem, as I hoped if something like that happened to me someone would do the same. Flash ahead to Friday afternoon. I needed to get some bags of feed so I’d left work early that afternoon. I checked the lambing barn and, seeing the coast was clear, I headed for the store that has everything Fleet Farm doesn’t. It had been snowing hard prior to that and began snowing even harder. Along with that there was a haze in the air, making visibility worse. I thought about turning around to wait until the snow let up, but thought I’d better get it done. It was tough to tell where the edge of the road was and I’d had a run-in earlier in the week. I’d been clearing along the end of the driveway to widen it when suddenly one side went down. I gingerly made my way back up the side of the ditch, hoping I wouldn’t flop it on its side.
I was underway with the pickup when I approached the crest of a hill and decided I should squeeze over towards the shoulder a little to avoid hitting anyone coming the other way. The landscape was pure white and the edge of the road was indistinguishable. All of a sudden I could feel the pickup start to get sucked towards the ditch. After struggling to gain control it pulled me in to a stop. I shoveled frantically and a good Samaritan came by and offered to help. Unfortunately there was no place to hook onto their vehicle, so I sent her on her way. I’d made progress shoveling and was getting the pickup to move towards the pavement. Another good Samaritan, this time a neighbor with a pickup, came by. Good thing as I was about gassed after all that shoveling. I hooked up the chain and he got the tow strap attached. A couple good yanks and the pickup made it out. He wouldn’t take anything for it. Best of all, I made it to get my feed in a timely fashion and we didn’t wreck anything.
After all this happened I had to think to myself that’s the way it ought to be. We help each other get through this and life’s other predicaments because one never knows when it’s your turn in the barrel. Pay it forward whenever you can.
See you next week…real good then.