Cheesecake, the Capybara, warms the feet of her hen friend at Rocky Ridge Refuge. (A whole “hog” approach to foot warming).

Vermont near-spring is fickle.  It’s a season that drags its feet. One day it teases you with shirtsleeve weather. The next, it dumps two feet of snow. The past couple weeks have been classic. A recent blast of warm weather had so melted the snowpack, I was wondering if we might actually see our daffodils before May this year. But then came another deep freeze. Now a snowstorm. Those optimistic green flower tops soon will be reblanketed under more than a foot of snow. Today we, the entire state of Vermont actually, are home from school as snow falls on snow falls on snow: the biggest snowfall in a couple years in progress.

Noon, March 14, early in the storm.

In this old house, we’re ready. The larder is full. The horses blanketed. The wood is piled in the box by the stove and the snow blower waits at ready. If the wind picks up and knocks out the power, the new generator will kick on. No more being without running water. My skis are in the back of my all wheel drive car, ready for an after school jaunt down the trails on my way home from work on Thursday. We may not be out of school this year until the end of June…but for today, Herb and I, and the slumbering corgies cocoon in the still and hush of snow, on snow, on snow…and wait for spring.

Capybara Photo credit: http://www.rockyridgerefuge.com/