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Tuesday, February 08, 2011

We are Awake Now

Magnum

You have probably read of all the barn collapses all over the Northeast. There have been hundreds of them, many cattle, calves and chickens have been killed, horses trapped and at least a couple of people have lost most of their machinery....all kinds of horrible stuff going on.

There has just been a tremendous amount of snow and then late last week it rained and sleeted on top of it, causing many buildings to fail. It is so sad for all the families that have suffered these losses.

So far we have been fortunate. Most of our roofs are very high, but they are steel and steep, both good. The guys have shoveled off the lower ones already to keep them safe.

However, last night we were milking when a tremendous, thunderous, long, rolling boom shook the barn. The cows panicked and scrambled for footing. We ran around like chickens chasing corn kernels.

Up to the mow, out to the barnyard. Round and round we hurried, looking for what was happening. There was nothing to see though. All was well. It was just tons and tons of snow sliding off the newer part of the barn. No harm done.

All through milking it kept doing that, as one roof after another let off bits of their encumberment. It was not boring.

And I am ready for that to be over with I can tell you. Oddly, after the first couple of cascades the cows paid no attention.

Back in the day when we still had horses they loved to stand and soak up the sun along the dark wall of the old heifer barn. Every now and then in the winter though they would throw up their heads and bolt, seemingly at nothing. We knew then that in a few seconds the snow would slip loose from the roof and come crashing down where they had been standing. Must be they heard it begin to come loose and knew enough to run. Of course Magnum was aways in the bunch and he was a real smart old guy.

12 comments:

June said...

Cows and horses are smarter than people about some things...
Cows hear a loud noise; nothing bad happens to them and the calm down.
Horses get out of the way of the noise.
I'm not sure the majority of people would do either of those things.

Throwback at Trapper Creek said...

Glad your stock and you guys are OK, nothing worse than collapsed buildings. Hopefully this will be the end of the deep stuff.

joated said...

Yeah, that rumble, rumble, slide, thumpity-thump, CRASH! can scare the bejeesus out of you the first time every winter. You'd swear the whole world was going to crash through the roof or the walls.

When you realize what the heck happened, you feel sorta relieved in that you now know the roof is free of all that weight AND you didn't have to risk life or limb to get it off!

Anonymous said...

I hate when that happens!

word verification is deckboad. Maybe that's what you need to make the sleet slide better, a deckboad up om all the buildings? :)

CTG Ponies said...

I hate the sounds that snow makes coming off the roof.

Cathy said...

"It was not boring."

Well. I'll bet you're ready for some boring ;-)

Magnum looks like a fine fellow and that's a great story about the horses' extra-sensory perception. Or at least - their very keen hearing.

Linda said...

LOL as our house cools (and it got down to 28* below last night) it creaks and cracks. The neighbors thought there roof was caving in, in the middle of the night and got dress and went up to shovel it off......there was nothing up there but they were awake when they got done too.

Keith Wilson said...

Winter is a brutal, dangerous, unforgiving season, especially for you dairy farmers. Always out in the cold regardless of the weather.
You do not lead a boring life; thieves stealing cable, cows breaking loose, tons of snow dumping on you, barns buckling, cows with difficult births. Instead of "Little House on the Prairie", it's "White House on the Big Hill."
A full life indeed.

ellie k said...

That is a beautiful old farm house, I know they are very hard to heat. I grew up in an old farm house in Ohio and it never seemed to get warm but stayed nice and cool in the summer. I love that pic, the farm and pony.
We have had really cold weather for Florida, my son in law lost over 1000 citrus trees to the freeze plus a lot of landscaping plants.

threecollie said...

June, they do indeed do what they do very well. We always got a huge kick out of the horses. They were smart enough to know the dangers of standing under the eaves, but they just loved the way the sun came in there.

Nita, I sure hope it is! We are in the deep freeze now after a day of high winds....

Joated, exactly! Sure wakes you up though. lol

JB, a deckboad, yeah, why didn't I think of that. Wonder if they sell them at Home Depot....hmmmm

CTG, me too! Especially if it brings icicles with it and you get that sound like breaking glass along with the thunder and crash

Cathy, I am indeed ready for some peace. Probably not this year though. lol Magnum was my first horse, a very smart guy. I had so much fun with him over the twenty plus years we were together that I sound like I'm lying when I tell about it. I sure loved him.

LInda, winter certainly isn't for the faint of heart. Sorry about your minus twenty. Only about zero here but we hit minus 25 last week and it wrecked everything it touched. We still have frozen water in the Heifer barn and massive repairs in milk house. Dang it.

Keith, yeah, that about sums it up. Always something going on every single day. Some good, some not so good. I am ready for spring I can tell you. It is really way too cold yet, but I am still watching the maples for the first sapcicle. It probably won't be long now.

Ellie, oh, no, I am so sorry about your son-in-law's trees. What a terrible loss. I feel so sorry for the citrus farmers down your way between the bad weather and the bugs and diseases, what a hard job! And thank you for your kind words. Magnum was a wonderful guy and brought me over twenty years of joy.

DayPhoto said...

I am sooooo very glad you and yours are okay. I have been reading about the horrible barn collapses and wondered how you fared! I am glad you have metal and they are steep.

Come On Winter...move on over for Spring!

Linda
http://coloradofarmlife.wordpress.com

threecollie said...

Linda, the barn collapse issue is huge. Hundreds of buildings have gone down. Literally. Not good.