Tuesday, January 5, 2010

Frozen Homestead

We are in the midst of a deep freeze.  A nasty bit of "global warming".  It was 0 degrees this morning when I ventured out to feed the cows before work.  I don't have enough long-johns for this.  And we have a few more days of it, to boot.  My milk cow's teats are chapped, the water hose is frozen, and I hope to have enough firewood, because we are chugging through it.  I'm not whining, I am trying to make a point.

The everyday chores get a bit harder when it is cold.  Put some snow on the ground, and that adds to the problem.  The stock tanks are freezing and staying frozen.  With no electricity in the are of the tanks, I am without heaters.  Does anyone know if they make battery powered ones?  Let me know.

These situations call for some "thinking outside the box".  I have to hand it to my oldest daughter for coming up with the idea of hauling buckets of water on a sled.  I am amazed that I didn't come up with that myself, but it works.  I always tend to look for the complex solutions to problems.  I guess it takes a 9 year old mind to come up with obvious solutions.  I guess you could say that the snow has aided in that instance, I hadn't thought of that either.

I think the point is, that there are any number of circumstances, problems or situations that can put us into "survival" mode.  The upside is that all of these things make us stronger for the real tests that are coming.

No matter the weather, we still have chores to do.  And no matter the circumstance, we need to work it out, not stand still, looking for a handout.

So, we will survive, and this will pass.  The bright side is that God is using these trials to make me into His image.  Thank you, Father.

By the way, tell Al Gore he's full of crap.

3 comments:

D.M. McGowan said...

They do make propane powered water tank heaters ... I don't know anything about battery powered and have never seen one or an add for such.
When I had a place north of Ft.St. John, BC I made a tank with a large piece of pipe through the center with a door on one end and a stove pipe on the other. I could build a fire right in the tank.
I'm still in the Peace Country but I now haul fuel and write novels.

There were many people this morning ... ranchers, feed-lot operators and homesteaders ... who were feeding and milking their cows at -38C this morning. Of course, the milking would have taken place inside a parlor of some sort.
I sure do miss the raw milk we used to have around here, but the arthritise in our hands (my wife used to do most of the milking) forced us out of the business 10 years ago.
Dave
www.dmmcgowan.blogspot.com

Happy Hoosier said...

Well it's very cold in Indiana today also...I agree with telling Al Gore he is full of it up to his ears...did he invent this climate change story about the same time he invented the internet? I feel for you though as a kid we had those problems, my dad had a tank heater he burned wood in to keep the water from freezing...I am a corn and bean farmer and then about this time a year I got to Naples for a couple months in a motor home...that's my rotations...

Scott or Pam said...

Hmmm, Naples. Maybe someday. Thanks for stopping by.
Scott