 |
|
|
|
|
 |
 |
|
||
 |
 |
|
||
|
||||
 |
|
|||
|
||||
|
||||
IceDecember 18, 2007 First it snowed then it rained then it got cold then it snowed some more then the sun came out then it got colder . . . Result is that we've got some serious ice out there. A couple days ago the remaining two or three inches of snow had crusted so thick that when I went stomp-stomp-stomp across it my boots hardly made a dent. Now the crust is even thicker, and slick. At the barn the ring is glare ice from one end to the other. We're cracking jokes about laying on another layer or two to make it smooth. The horses are confined to their paddocks, where the ice is broken up enough that they can walk around without slipping. The driveway out in front of my house is so icy it's hard to walk on, but Uhura Mazda, who doesn't have four-wheel drive, is doing a remarkable job thanks to the two forklift pieces (tines?) that Jim lifted into her bed with the tractor. Without the ballast we would have been fishtailing here, there, and everywhere. My favorite gizmo of the month, however, are the treads on my paddock boots. These consist of a heavy band of rubber that encircles the sole and holds in place a crisscross diamond pattern of wire coiled around rubber. Rhodry and I went for a stroll at noontime, along ice-covered paths and dirt roads, and I didn't slip once. Rhodry had a harder time of it; we're wondering if these gizmos are available in paw sizes. Up the dirt road behind the house, about halfway to the West Tisbury dump, there's a big-truck parking area enclosed with a stockade fence. Out front there are usually several dumpsters of various sizes awaiting reassignment. When we walked by, a truck was idling in the road with its driver waiting alongside -- for what I didn't ask; maybe assistance with relocating a dumpster. I said hi and kept walking. The guy said, "Be careful there, it's real slippery" -- the whole area was an ice field, and the sun glinting off it was enough to make you shield your eyes. So I showed him my treads. He'd never seen such things before but we agreed that someone ought to be selling them at Five Corners. The treads are on loan from Ginny, who has another pair for herself. They both belonged to Peg, her mother-in-law, who died the Monday after Thanksgiving after a long fight with cancer. Peg was very cool and I like the idea that she's helping me walk on the ice.
|
|
|||
|
||||
|
||||
|
||||
 |
|
|||
 |
|
|||
Home - Writing - Editing - About Susanna - Bloggery - Articles - Poems - Contact Copyright ©
Susanna J. Sturgis. All rights reserved. |
||||