Winter Wonderland

Old Man Winter granted my wish! We woke up this morning to a beautiful winter wonderland. Seven inches or more of sparkling snow covers the ground as far as the eye can see. No use even trying to sleep in on a Saturday morning when we have all that white stuff out there calling our names! So, we layered on the clothes, coats, boots, hats and gloves and ventured out back to check on the donkeys.

One step off the porch and CRUNCH! A thick layer of ice is crusting the snow. Every step it's CRUNCH - sink, CRUNCH - sink, CRUNCH - sink, through the snow. The donkeys were all huddled together in the barn. Their feed trough and buckets were filled with snow, so we threw out some bales of hay and coaxed them out of their stall. It was hilarious to watch them walking in the snow, high-stepping it like Tennessee Walking Horses. Baby Chloe' seemed especially bewildered by the wierd white stuff with the crunch icing.

There are dozens of birds all around our feeders, some new ones I've never seen before, all sharing so politely and stuffing their beaks. I cut up some oranges, apples and pears and sprinkled bird seed on them and laid them on the ground and the birds just love the fresh fruit. Who knew? There's a big, fat Mockingbird that pecks at a pear, then hops over to an orange, back and forth like he can't make up his mind which tastes better. Back by the pond, you can see tracks where the deer have already come through, and other tracks that might be dog or coyote.

As we walked back to the house, Sid gets the bright idea to borrow the next-door neighbor kids' snow saucer. Oh Lord, this can't end well! Up the big hill he climbs, bright green saucer in hand and a big smile on his face. Surely he'll lose his nerve once he gets to the top, but no, here he comes flying down the hill like he's 10 years old, faster and faster until there's no controlling the slippery disc and POOF he's off into a ditch, end over end, legs in the air and snow flying everywhere. He gets up grinning like a kid at Disneyland but he's had enough and doesn't go for a second round. Good thing, cuz I don't think my nerves can take it!