After all, time is not money. It is an opportunity to live before you die. Donald Culross Peattie

 

On the nine hour drive from Calgary to Central Saskatchewan on Dec. 29th we saw almost no snow. The fields were mostly bare the entire way. Given that we had watering restrictions right up to Nov. in Calgary and only two small snowfalls in Calgary from mid Oct to Christmas it has been an incredibly dry fall and winter. The bit snow at the farm is way below average and the temperatures unseasonably warm.

 

The pages above are from A Book Of Hours by Donald Culross Peattie, 

Decorations by Land Ward, 1937. The book was a Christmas gift from my brother. 

At the farm Christmas 2023

                                                     

"When the great wind comes

and the robberies of the rain

you stand on the corner shivering.

The people who go by—

you wonder at their calm.

They miss the whisper that runs

any day in your mind,

“Who are you really, wanderer?”—

and the answer you have to give

no matter how dark and cold

the world around you is:

“Maybe I’m a king.”"

from A Story That Could Be True

by William Stafford

https://poetry.princeton.edu/2010/01/05/a-story-that-could-be-true/

Willow Two passed Nov. 20

 

We lost the farm dog Willow Two in Nov. Although unrelated, she looked

a lot like the original Willow shown in the blog banner. She was the sweetest 

of dogs and beloved by the whole family. She has a friend to foxes and a

terror to snakes. She liked to excavate a hole  at the bottom of the side 

steps to use for naps. And she loved snacks.

She was a good dog.

"Because of the dog's joyfulness, our own is increased. It is no small gift.

 It is not the least reason why we should honor as love the dog of our own life, 

and the dog down the street, and all the dogs not yet born."

Mary Oliver

I am having trouble with my external drive and was limited

 in the number of photos I can access.