Winter?

Did I move, somehow, without noticing? Some place where winters are wet and muddy? It just seems hard to reconcile the winters of my youth with..... this. I remember deer hunting seasons where the woods were covered in snow and tracking the rare "wounded but not downed" deer was quick and simple thanks to the snow. But now? It's like December has dressed up as March or April for a strange costume party.

Not that I will complain, though. Because to be honest I don't miss those winters one bit. But (there is always a but, and this is a big one) this area was designed, much to my chagrin, to need these winters for our ecosystem to thrive. The flora and fauna here developed to function with a lengthy snowy cold spell. There are bugs who are kept in check by the cold, and plants who only grow and germinate properly if they go through a harsh winter. As much as it pains me to say it.....

We need winter.

But I won't complain.

I have been largely absent here this last year because, quite frankly, we have been trudging through a big patch of rough. The rough patch is gradually smoothing out but it still has it's major sorrows and struggles. Like the fact that if I want to keep the house warm all winter a few things need to happen: I need to inherit large sums of money. I need someone to give the gift of propane for Christmas. I need a second job (oh, did I ever post about having a job here? Shame on me, it's been so long.) I need hay prices to drop. I need the winter to be mild so what propane we do have will last.

Any one or two of those things in combination would help.

Oh, sorry, have to run, the men folk just got us some meat for the freezer! I'll write more later!!