An Early Christmas Present

After weeks of rain and mud, Mother Nature (or was it Santa?) delivered an early Christmas present: sun and frozen ground.

I'm a fan of winter. I welcome snow. I seldom complain of the cold. But this year, we haven't had a typical winter. Temperatures have lingered above freezing. Rain has fallen in amounts measured by whole inches, not tenths. The skies have remained gray.

This morning, though, the sun came out. Temperatures dipped into the 20s -- enough to freeze the ground for a few hours.

I worked the dog on sheep. I removed weeks of horse manure from the barn. I moved hay from the storage barn to the livestock barn.

The horses and sheep went out on pastures. The cat took joy in pouncing the working Border collie. Tag, the non-working Border collie, rolled in the grass. I smiled.

Merry Christmas.