Roll Call

December 19, 2021

Hello everyone,

December keeps rolling along with both Christmas and the one year anniversary of our arrival next week. At this point our daily rhythms have fallen into place and we pretty much know what to expect from each day. Erin works about twenty to thirty hours a week cleaning the boss's house, pet-sitting, landscaping, filling birdfeeders and running errands. I spend about ten to twenty hours each week taking care of the horses: first, at 7am before I go to work at 7:30; and, for a second time, at dark...letting it be earlier during the winter and later during the summer according to the seasons. On top of that, and working construction forty hours per week, I try to keep up with the tractors and equipment here and help Erin whenever she has a particularly big project. I usually run the dogs every afternoon, between the time that I get off of work and the time that I go back out to feed again. Weekends, of course, allow for more opportunities to ramble around and we(me and/or Erin and/or the dogs) often end up on the northern parts of the property, just a little more tucked away from the world than where we are at the house. During the week, Erin cleans at various times, depending on the boss's schedule, and usually has to run to Santa Fe at least once a month to get things for the ranch: bird seed; cat food; dog food; cleaning supplies; and various other items. In between all of this, and taking care of our little place, she is always cooking or gardening, or, oftentimes, spending time preparing for the former or taking care of the produce from the latter. Already, she's feeling the drum beat to get her tomato seeds started inside and to add horse manure to the raised beds and more wood mulch to the paths in the garden. Even though the end of December is the coldest time of the year out here(normally - whatever that means anymore), the first few heady days of walking around barefoot in the garden are just around the corner.

And things have changed here on the ranch, too. The wind, which was absent for most of the summer, has returned over the last month or so. Many days, it blows so hard that it is not unusual to see steady winds of 35-45mph and gusts up to 70mph in the forecast. Even a normal day when it is not 'windy' yields steady 10-20mph winds. Moisture is absent and we easily went a couple of months with nothing. Just now we're beginning to have some cloudy days and even the occasional drizzle. It is not uncommon to see rain on the radar on your computer only to go outside to see that it is clearly not reaching the ground. The horses' coats have grown shaggier and, as they are completely without shelter of any kind, they rely on them heavily. They also like to yard up and back themselves into big clumps of junipers where they can find shelter on the leeward side of the wind. Once in a while, on particularly nasty mornings, I won't even put their feed out in their feeders(as they are somewhat exposed to the wind) and, instead, find some junipers that have formed a natural windbreak to put the hay under. Believe me, they are not picky and have already met me at the horse gate just to make sure that I'm on my way out to the feeders and will eat it right there on the spot. I will say, that somewhat like Huskies, they seem to be much happier in cooler temperatures, if not outright cold ones, and are more apt to be found frolicking and running around then. The kittens have set up permanent camp on our front stoop, as we moved them off of the side stoop and made room there for Erin's big charcoal grill that we finally got out of storage. They're not quite full-grown yet, but are no longer babies, and love to try and dart into the house whenever we open the door...they've made it in more than once, the little buggers. Still, the other outside cats constantly harass and pick on them and try to run them off, so we're trying to keep an eye on things(it is not uncommon to do a headcount, find one kitten missing, only to then find them nearby at the top of a tree with the outside cats underneath). Ten horses, eleven cats, four(soon to be five) dogs...just a little bit of our every day crazy out here!

Now, for the best part, some more pictures. The first five are from me out walking with the dogs: first, a selfie of a sort; then, four shots of the knuckleheads racing and running around, trying to throttle each other. Next, a shot of Rui doing what has become one of his favorite activities...mining the fence line for horse turds! Then, four shots of the horses coming into the feeders one morning after they met me at the gate and I had to throw some flakes of hay on the ground just so that I could open it and get in. Eight out of ten were there and I passed the head stallion and his main squeeze about halfway back to the feeders, after which they all came streaming back in one long line. Next, a shot of Freedom eating out of the back of the buggy as the sunset deepens the colors of the sky behind her. Then, two shots from the jobsite: first, mixed cat and dog tracks through some fresh concrete slurry from my big gang on one of our walks; then, the small second floor of the house where we installed radiant flooring in concrete between wooden slats on the floor...I was involved with many facets of this project: windows; moisture barrier; flashing; cupola reinforcements; sanding; stone sills; and also lots of good, old-fashioned sweeping and vacuuming. Finally, three shots from rambling around the ranch, which all show how the clouds love to play and show off on the few chances they get when it is not absolutely crystal clear out here.

Take care.