The weather this late in autumn has been bizarre to say the least. Last week we had a cold snap that came on so quick and was so ferocious that it froze our water spigot and the ground solid overnight. The horses were grumpy, the cats huddled by the door begging to come in, and the sheep couldn’t care less.
When I woke up, it was twenty degrees warmer than it should be in the middle of December and the slow, steady rain was actually warm. It made an awful mess of mud but I was happy that the horses weren’t shivering when I threw them hay, although they were already drenched to the bone. All that water thawed the mushy soil enough that I hurried and planted a few trees that have been waiting patiently to have their roots buried.
Today, it was like we were in Washington. The humid rain produced a thick fog that wasn’t about to budge, raindrops clung to the blackberry’s dormant tangle of branches and the lichen on the trees was vividly verdant against the dark, soaked bark.
I’ve never actually been to the state of Washington but I imagine the clime was a pretty close replica. We didn’t even have to go anywhere.
