The winds are howling above us and I am petrified. Tornado watches have been issued and a Tornado Warning is 25 miles away.
This morning I hiked down into the creek bottom to take a quick look at the change from the day before.
It was 50 degrees and foggy in the low lying areas. The driveway had melted into mush and the valley still had ice on all of the trails.
And just above the creek... it was eerily quiet without hardly a whisper of noise.
The fog eventually lifted and the winds shifted to the south clearing most of the fog as the day warmed up.
The mules moved to the south fence line where the neighbor's hillside and forest kept them protected.
And they seemed to sense that this was where they should be.
As dark fell and the winds picked up, I felt very uncomfortable. The temperature was all wrong, the winds were soft but wrong...the mules felt it also.
When I fed them, they snorted and trotted back and forth as if I was offering them poisonous snakes instead of hay. The horse bucked and spun in circles as if she were telling me something.
I waited until everyone was calmed down and then talked with each of them. Yes, I do that. I talk to my mules. There was a sense of discomfort in the air yet a sense of them wishing to be close to me.
I don't know how to explain it, they hugged me with their presence. Sunshine and Sundance stood on each side of me with a mouthful of hay yet not chewing. Just standing with their heads ... one on my right shoulder and one on my left.
And now at 9:12, I am seeing lightening ...
and the sky is howling and flashing....
and the tree tops are beginning to scream...
We're having crummy weather tonight too. I can hear the wind outside...it is unseasonably warm for us in December....tornado watches in the southern part of the state...I worry about power outages....we have forests all around us. I understand your worries. Hope we all get through tonight unscathed. I'm sure animals can feel the strangeness too. Take good care!
ReplyDeleteThree were tornados reported I guess in MN. The reports are still coming in.
DeleteThe highest winds in the area were gusts of 75 mph. I guess this is one reason I am glad we live below the ridge.
Animals are better at predicting weather than humans...I think.!
Yikes!! You have good reason to be petrified. It is incredibly weird & nasty outside. I let the dogs out potty in the middle of the night, in straight unrelenting wind. I know the forecast was worse to the West. I wasn't aware of the Tornados, but it sure feels like a possibility. Truly hope you & yours are safe!! I will be contacting you later this morning.
ReplyDeleteI have been awake since 11-ish, can't sleep when the atmosphere is so eerie. We did not have any fog yesterday, which is odd since our son had thick fog to the south. The river must have balanced things out? Our weather always seem to be a bit different than other areas nearby. When we brought horses in for the night, I mentioned to Brad it felt all wrong. It felt like Florida. Breaking records is a sign of things to come. 67F in December...scary!!
Your mules & 15 were no doubt telling you something, and found comfort in your presence. Equine hugs are sooo sweet.
I hope you get some rest. I know I'll be looking forward to a nap later I hope.
Deleteright now it is still too windy to try and feed the mules. I can get hay out to a an old cattle feeder that will keep it in place however.
The trees are still doing the hula with gusts...and that is down in my hollow!
The mules protecting you must have given you a moment of pweace in your heart.
ReplyDeleteThe animals know and they were comforted by you, scary weather for sure. It was just windy here but that is normal, I was out at dark and there was a mist in the air and during the night it snowed. So I suppose it is slippery.:(
ReplyDelete