April Showers – April 2

There was an ominous feel to the morning. It was very warm and windy.

People ask if we bring horses inside during stormy weather. Actually, we just hope for good luck. They have a shed outdoors for shelter from the rain. We have known horses to die from tornadoes hitting their barn, and we have known of horses being killed by flying debris outside. Much of life is luck, and Spring storms test that belief. There is only so much we can control.

And so, out went the horses…

Eddy and I did morning chores, then went in for breakfast. I made Eddy pose by the lilac hedge for a picture on the way to the house.

Rain came as predicted mid morning. There was heavy rain, but of short duration. I was able to take some pictures of birds between various unremarkable chores.

Spring continues to hold forth, especially as the afternoon storms blew through and the sun returned. Temperatures are going to drop again. There is a Bartlett pear at the edge of the woods, not to be confused with the Callery pears, which do not bear fruit. Callery pears are “ornamental” and wildly invasive. The lone Bartlett fruit tree was one of a group that we bought years ago when we had the idea of an orchard east of the barn. It was the fifth pear tree. Four went into the orchard, along with apples and cherries, and the fifth was planted at the edge. of the woods, being surplus. We didn’t realize that deer and raccoons would eat all the fruit we could grow.

We also didn’t know what fire blight was, and it hit the orchard, affecting all the pear trees, necessitating cutting them down and burning them. It was a sad year. But the “surplus” tree was a long way from the orchard and was unaffected. It brings me great joy to see it blooming. It brings the deer great joy in autumn when pears are eaten.

The horses waited out the rain in their shed, then went back to grazing in the wet field. When I went to bring them in for evening feed, they hurried up to the paddock.

With the light lowering in the west, we got three pictures at the weeping crabapple outside the kitchen door.

Every day is its own treasure.

Be safe, be well. May the storms pass over you and yours without harm. Be kind, be strong, be grateful. Slava Ukraini! Peace…