The calm before the wind-chill...

I took a nice, long walk again today.  I think we had 60* on the thermometer today and very little wind.  So unusual for us here.  I wanted to spend some time outside so I took one walk up to the mail box before the mailman drove by.  It's a two mile round trip.  Then I took a pasture walk out into the wide open plains.  There isn't any livestock out there right now because it is mostly used for spring and summer grazing.   Just a short way into my walk, I saw a badger -- a blonde badger who saw me and popped right into a hole as quick as a wink.  I was so hoping I'd see him again and could snap a picture for you, but it was not to be.  So I'll show you somebody else's picture of the blonde badger.  When I say the badger was blonde, I mean that he matched the pasture grass, unlike many badgers who are very dark or silver in color.

Photo courtesy of Wilderness College.

Do you see the cow trail worn into the grass?  I often find myself walking in cow trails when I go hiking out into a big pasture.  The grass is tromped down and it's usually easier to walk in the trails, but sometimes the ruts are too deep for a two-legged creature to walk in and I must forge my own path. 

 This is an alkali area of the pasture.  It's spongy and the white stuff is very salty.  You don't ever want to drive in a low alkali spot or you might sink the outfit up to the frame.  Nothing much grows here except some salt grasses and weeds.  One pretty weed is called Saltlover (Halogeton) which is poisonous to livestock.

 

I found a cow carcass scattered about in one spot.  She's been out there a long, long  time.

 

 And this must be one of Badger's holes.  There were at least four holes on this ridge.  The thing is to have several holes in which to hop into quickly and to have lots of storehouses for a long winter.

 

How about that expansive sky and prairie together?  Breathtaking, isn't it?

 

Turning back toward home, you can faintly see the barns, granaries, hay corrals and homes.  You can also see that the sky is changing and a cold front is blowing in.  We've had high winds since dark and the winds are expected to hang around and increase for a few days as the temperatures drop.  Combined, they will give us sub-zero wind chills between -15 and -20.  Brrrrrr!  We've had such a mild winter so far, that I shouldn't complain when Real Winter hits.  (Well, I might complain, but it IS winter after all.)

Back home the low sun invites itself in at about 3 pm and warms the house up a little.  Coffee time!  Come in and have a cup!