28 Dec Mon 2009
Winter Day in Wisconsin
December 28, 2009
A crisp, cold, bright sunny day! The wind is gusting... sending sheets of snowflakes off the boughs of the balsam firs and into my hair and face. The air smells so clean and fresh in this cold, and the snowflakes on the ground are reflecting the sun like so many diamonds...
As I approach the barn, Peter Tosh, a male llama, starts pronking with joy - his hay is coming!!! Have you seen a llama pronk? It's quite a sight... they prance and kick up their heels and jump as though they have springs under their feet, defying gravity.
The chickens are making contented cluckings and mutterings in their winter greenhouse coop. I come in and check their water, top off the feeder, and scatter a handful of fresh cranberries on the straw. They scurry over to eat them and one hen plays "keep-away" with her cranberry as others give chase. The red rooster announces that there is new food to eat, but the hens have already discovered it and consumed most, leaving him a solitary berry for his trouble.
I'd love to open one of the hives and say hello to my bees, but it is too cold to do so today, and I know that I would find them in a large humming cluster, with activity going on within, and bees coming and going from the center, where the most heat is being generated.
All in all, a great day to be alive.