Snow Flurries Falling

I woke up this morning and the room was very still. The house was quiet and felt warm somehow. That was because we had an icy covering insulating us on the roof. A white hat of snow covered the corrugated metal. As I inched the curtains apart that kept the room so dark, I began to see a hint of whiteness, with each slide on the rod exposing more and more snowy wonderfulness. Aha. It finally snowed this year. Last year on the same date we also had snow, but that was more pronounced and much heavier. But this will do just fine. It even quieted down our unruly roosters crowing from early morning on.

So I took a few shots from different windows and was satisfied with my results and started my day. I thought about how nice and sunny and almost warm it felt the day before it snowed. But we’re in a cold snap now and the warmer days will return again. We just have to get through this weather now. It figures that this is lambing season. Already there are babies being born into the chill. Somehow most of them make it past this, but many don’t. This year the farmer moved most of his stock over to a closer farm they own. That could mean that for the first time in years we won’t have little lambs here, although there could be a few later arrivals from a small assortment of ewes in one of our back paddocks, which still has good grazing. Since it’s very hilly the rain doesn’t pond up over there making it too muddy for them, causing all sorts of problems for the sheep. But it’s still better for them to be closer to the rest of their animals so they can protect the newborns and find the orphans sooner that have lost their mothers in the birthing process. Then those babies will need hand feeding about 6 times a day for at least a month. It’s very time consuming along with milk consuming, but very necessary. We took in a few orphans to help out a local farmer years ago when we lived at the vineyard estate. It takes a fair bit of dedication but is quite gratifying to watch the lambs grow bigger while getting some personal attention. Although it doesn’t make up for losing their mothers, it certainly keeps them alive.

Getting back to today it is our son’s birthday and he flew to the States for a month long visit with family and friends. I’m thinking back to when we moved here with him. He was just three and adorable. Now he’s all grown up and adorable. Where did that time go? I still worry about him like he’s still three. When will I let go of that? Maybe when I grow up I’ll finally be able to let him go. But then, when will that happen?