winter in Texas

8 01, 2018

Old Man Winter’s Arrived

By |2018-01-07T18:34:06-06:00January 8th, 2018|A Writer's Life, Make Me Think Monday|1 Comment

The hustle and bustle of the holidays is over for another year. We’re settling into winter.

SOURCE: clipground.com/image-post/76271

Old Man Winter is playing hardball with the poor folks on the east coast. Even here in Texas, we had a full week where temperatures didn’t rise about freezing.

Our little arctic cold snap only lasted a week, but it wiped out many of my flowers even though I had lovingly covered them. Plants and houses and cars in Texas don’t do cold weather very well.

Some folks thrive in the cold weather. For those folks, winter means snow and snow brings skiing and ice skating, snowmobile rides, curling up by a fire with a good book, and the peaceful silence of a walk after a fresh snowfall.

Others dread the winter with its snow and wild weather. All they can think about is shoveling, snow blowing, icy roads, and frigid temperatures.

I like winter with its cooler temperatures. I didn’t even mind the shoveling and snow blowing when we lived where it snowed. I avoid icy roads by huddling inside with a roaring fire and a good book. And, I positively love the aroma of a good soup or stew simmering in the crock pot on a chilly day.

Another thing I like about winter is the slower pace.

Animals are hibernating, trees have shed their leaves, and daylight hours are shorter. Nature beds down for winter, storing energy for spring.

Perhaps we should mimic Mother Nature and use wintertime to renew ourselves. Get more sleep, read more books, and eat good soups. Take a step back from busyness and noisy days to replenish our spirit in the quiet and calm of winter.

I’m thinking if we did, the arrival of spring would likely find us refreshed and energized ready for its promise and possibilities.

What do you think?

7 02, 2014

Winter on the Farm – Miller Farm Friday

By |2014-02-07T06:00:38-06:00February 7th, 2014|Friday on the Miller Farm, Miller Farm Friday|0 Comments

A Guest Blog by Chicken Wrangler Sara

In the past seven days, we have been under two different winter storm warnings.

While this may seem normal for those of you who actually have winter where you live, in Texas winter is anything below 60 degrees. Any chance of freezing precipitation causes great panic.

Last Thursday the weather began to get nasty and by Friday morning we awoke to what for us was a “Winter Wonderland.”

snowWP Now I have lived in the northeast and have actually been stranded in a blizzard in Deep Creek, Maryland, so I understand how silly this seems.

However, for the chickens, that have never seen a white ground, this was very disturbing.hen and snowWP

They were much slower to exit the coop and some decided to wait it out in the safety of their nest boxes.

By afternoon, the snow was gone and the chickens were out pecking the ground as usual.

By Sunday, we were in short sleeves again making it hard to believe the weather forecast for Tuesday which was predicting up to 2 inches of snow.

Sure enough on Monday, the wind shifted and the temperature dropped.

I bought more chicken and quail food and made sure all feeders were full. I even filled the waterers knowing they would freeze.  I planned to pour hot water over them in the morning to melt enough ice to prevent any bird from dying of thirst.

We have been watching a TV show called “Alaska: The Last Frontier.” I thought about how they prepared for their winter as I warned the chickens of the impending storm.

By the end of the day on Monday, the private school where I teach had cancelled classes for Tuesday. The public schools delayed opening for two hours.  The pool even closed so we all slept in.

Tuesday morning arrived with no snow and little ice.  iceWP

Children were disappointed, but I didn’t mind. I’ve seen enough snow.

The weatherman says it will be 70 degrees by Friday. Gotta love Texas :)

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