Blizzards Are Good for the Soul

Across the Fence #318

The weather outside is frightful, but inside it’s so delightful, and since we’ve no place to go, let is snow, let it blow, let it snow.

The snow is falling in Sherpeland today. Well, it’s not exactly falling; it’s blowing sideways. The wind is really howling across the prairie. How windy is it? It’s so windy a bird flew by the window… sideways. The freezing rain that arrived before the snowstorm, created a layer of icy crust on the existing snow. The wind is so powerful, the ground-feeding birds under our bird feeder go sliding across the snow, propelled by wind gusts.

The birds have been in a feeding frenzy today. They seem to know there’s a blizzard coming. I counted twenty mourning doves at one time under the feeder near our window. When I was filling the feeder in the wooded area near the house, a chickadee landed on my hand and ate seeds I was holding. A nuthatch kept working down a branch and came within six inches of my outstretched hand, but couldn’t get up the nerve to hop onto my fingers. Perhaps another day, we’ll connect.

It’s now evening. This will be a cold, wet, windy night for our birds. They’ll need all the food they can get to keep their metabolism up and keep warm. Winter is harsh in Wisconsin, Minnesota, and Iowa for birds and animals. Many will die. We like to give the birds around us a better chance at survival by providing them a source of food. I guess you could say they’re our pets, even though they don’t give any affection and appreciation back, like you receive from dogs and cats.

At the moment our “pets” are in the middle of a raging blizzard. The weather forecast says we could have blizzard conditions tonight and tomorrow. I have news for them, step outside, the blizzard is here! The wind is roaring and no lights can be seen around the countryside. We’re isolated, alone in the midst of a blizzard in the country. Travel isn’t advised on any roads tonight or tomorrow. Even if we wanted to travel we couldn’t get out of our driveway. My only mode of travel at the moment would be on my snowshoes and that would be foolhardy with these high wind chills and whiteout conditions. We’re hunkering down and staying put for the duration.

This reminds me of old-fashioned blizzards we had when I was young. At least now I don’t need to go out to the barn and do chores and milk cows. That was always a challenge on days like this. Our old barn was quite drafty, and cold winds with sub-zero temperatures, sometimes froze the water in the drinking cups. It was even worse when a water pipe would burst. Those had to be tough times for all farmers and those problems never change. Blizzards and sub-zero temperatures still arrive each winter, and pipes still freeze.

When I was young, we never wanted a snowstorm, especially a blizzard, to arrive on Christmas Eve. Even Santa would have a hard time finding his way in a blizzard. Rudolph was good at leading the way through fog, but we weren’t too sure he could find his way in a blizzard. Plus, those strong winds could blow Santa’s sleigh and reindeer off course and he wouldn’t be able to find our house. As far as I know, Santa didn’t have a GPS when I was young. But he must have had a very good sense of direction and detailed maps, because he always found our house.

We never did get to visit with Santa like kids do now. Today there’s a Santa in every shopping mall where kids can tell him what they want. When I was young, Santa only made one visit to Westby prior to Christmas. If I remember right, he arrived on a flatbed truck and they parked it between two buildings on Main Street. Santa stood on the back of the truck and handed out bags of hard candy to all the kids. We never got to talk to him or tell him what we wanted for Christmas. I don’t recall ever writing Santa a letter either. Somehow he knew what we wanted and where we lived. But, I’m still a bit miffed with Santa for never bringing me that Lionel electric train I always wanted. I guess I should have written him a letter.

Those days when I waited for Santa to arrive are now history, just like the blizzard is history. Our road that connects us with the outside world is open again, but I liked being snowed in. The blizzard isolated us for a couple days, and allowed me to kick back and reflect. It was good for the soul. Maybe we all need a good blizzard every once in a while to help us slow down and get back in touch with what’s important. Life gets down to the very basics when Mother Nature unleashes her fury… shelter, warmth, and food. Birds, animals, and people, all need help at times. Providing our fellow travelers on “Spaceship Earth” with food, shelter, and love during trying times; is the best gift we can give any time of year.

Merry Christmas from my side of the fence to yours!