Wed. Jan. 13th... How Lovely is the Freezing Morning Devoid of Breeze...

This morning I ventured out onto the rear deck to drop a soda bottle into the recycle container and then stopped to marvel the feeling that swept over me in the gray, hazy predawn light creeping over the horizon. There was not a sound to be realized, lest for the occasional putting of an alarmed guinea on the roost, ever aware of her surroundings. She didn't know it was me...no, she knew there was something near, a potential threat possibly, but not sure enough to declare outright alarm at a very high decibel level. No...Rather a concerned and constant, low keyed "Ca Ca... Ca Ca... Ca Ca...which is their signature, "On duty noise" for the benefit of the others. As I drew in a deep lung full of the brisk ten degree air, I could feel it flowing... deeply... into my body, as if scorching a trail as it continued its journey down my throat and into my chest. I distinctly remember that I did not detect any odor to the air. Could it be that cold... and that smell is not carried on such chilly air? Again and again, I drew in repeated breaths of air, testing and trying to sense a smell... something... anything to reinforce my senses were still intact. Finally, I picked up the soda bottle I had just deposited into the container, removed the cap and took a sniff of the bottle. The fragrance of cherry immediately entered my nose and my sensory faculties jumped to attention. Their report pleased me and reinforced that obviously, there is little to smell in a cold winter world, so early in the predawn light.

The birds were just starting to clock onto their jobs, as you could hear some crows and several other birds from time to time. How interesting if we could actually see the night shift animals, as they clock out and hand the world over to the day shift animals.

Last evening I called our farmer neighbor around the corner and asked his wife if he would be interested in selling a large round bale of his hay from the field right behind our house and possibly deliver it to our Alpaca pasture sometime this week. She said she would have Wayne call us as soon as he came in. Later in the evening, Vick took the call he returned. He told her he sells to all the neighbors needing hay and would be glad to sell us a bale and bring it over. The Alpacas will surely be happy soon.

Vick's parent's vacation with us will draw to a close tomorrow afternoon. They will leave for home tomorrow afternoon, leaving Vick and I alone with the dogs again in this huge house of ours. It will be back to business as usual on the farm and we'll then start to get ready for Bill and Loraine's visit shortly.
Both Bill and Loraine love to come here in the winter and kick up their heels, relax and watch movies or do puzzles and take in a antique shop or two. We really look forward to their visits too, because we do fun things we seldom take time to do when they are not here. We need to rectify that and do them more often...just Vick and me...

Later on, Vick's parents are going to come and stay here so she and I can take a day trip to Miller Ridge...an exclusive eatery and historic landmark near the city and then another day, to north Vermont during the maple syrup days to see some little family operations as they render syrup and make maple candy. The big operations are nice too, but too hidden in the equipment. When you find a little family operation, you still see the original utensils, and can observe the entire process from beginning to end...by hand. There are many other nice places to stop and see up there, that you can certainly spend a day starting at sun up, which will then last far beyond sundown, without stopping to let any snow melt under your feet.