Wind

Wind. It can be bracing, invigorating, annoying. Mostly, I find it annoying. So do the girls.

One of the things I love about living here is that the wind rarely blows. Yesterday and today are the exception. It also snowed all day yesterday. The wind made the flakes dance and twirl, travel sideways for significant periods, and blow into drifts against my doors. Maia tried to enjoy the snow, but the wind quickly drove her inside. Meadow lasted a bit longer, as the first photo attests: the wind-driven snow crusted on her fur. As a friend noted, she looks like a Yellowstone buffalo braving a harsh winter storm. Just as she'd get comfortable, curled with her back to the wind, its direction would change, forcing her to reposition to avoid windblown snow in her face. After three or four attempts to keep the wind at her back, she too gave up and spent most of the day indoors.

The nearby horses and cattle appear miserable, trying to find a place out of the wind, turning their back ends to the gusting snow and rain, their coats trimmed with ice crystals. Truly weather "unfit for man or beast."

In the second photo, taken today after the rain stopped but with the wind still howling, you can see how the gusts bend the fur on Meadow's head. You can also see that she's guarding her bone, just in case a local yeti were to sneak into the yard under cover of all that white.

Maia, the smart one, never stayed out long enough for me to get a good photo of her. As far as she's concerned, Meadow can have those already-cleaned bones.