Long Nights, Short Days, and Rainy Weather

We’ve reached that time of year where I don’t see much of my place in daylight during the week.  As the winter solstice approaches, I’m often out of the house at or just after sunrise (usually to check sheep and feed the livestock guardian dogs). I’m nearly always back home after sunset (which happens a little before 5 p.m. at our latitude). Outside work, at least at home, is reserved for the weekends, even in rainy weather.

This morning, I moved the rams (and their dog, Elko) back from the neighbors and into our back pasture (a matter of simply walking them through a gate and moving a fence energizer). As I was walking through the back pasture, I realized that one of the willow trees next to our little pond had blown over in last night’s storm. With the heavy rainfall we’ve received most of the day, I decided to wait for a dry (or at least less rainy) weekend day to get it cleaned up - just one more thing on my “To Do” list!

After completing the home chores, I drove the 6 miles to our winter sheep pasture to feed the other dog (Bodie) and check on the ewe flock. We moved them from our irrigated pasture to their winter home a week ago; they were convinced that I was there to move them to the next pasture this morning. After assuring them they’d get to move tomorrow, I put up more fence to get the next paddock completed. After running some errands in town, I returned home just in time for the skies to open! While I don’t mind working in the rain, I also don’t mind an excuse to stay inside and read this time of year - which is what I did!

Since we heat our home entirely with wood, staying inside and reading in December requires staying outside and sweating earlier in the year. When the days are longer, I cut firewood. I move sprinklers to grow grass on our irrigated pasture. I work in our yard - mowing grass, tending our vegetable garden, doing little repairs to the barns and the house. As we approach the shortest day of the year, my outside work feels compressed, but it also feels slowed. Working outdoors in all weather and at all times of year, I think, connects me with these annual rhythms. I enjoy sitting outside and reading after dinner in the summer; I enjoy sitting outside by a campfire before dinner in the winter.

All of this makes the “artificiality” of working in an office challenging for me at times. I’ll admit to enjoying coming into an air conditioned office after sweating through a hot morning of moving sprinklers. Like anyone, I appreciate being out of the rain on days like this. What I miss, though, is knowing the weather in every moment. I’m an outside person at heart. And so during the long nights and short days of winter, when my nature says I should be slowing down, working in an office allows me to remain unnaturally busy. I long for dormancy at this time of year! Short days and rainy weather match the slowest time in our sheep operation - there’s something to be said to matching our work to the seasons!