When the season of winter arrives turning the air all bitter and cold
I still have sunflowers—made from rotary hoe wheels—
And a crafted of metal sunflower
All dressed in rusty brown
Perfect reminders of the warmer seasons!
Your friend on a western Colorado farm,
Linda
Chapter Eight
It’s been a nice two weeks.
I’ve made sure the mice are at bay
Scared off a few birds
Patrolled the whole farmyard every day, more than twice a day
And even found Dad’s tire jacket laying on the ground
Just perfect for me to play hide and seek in.
Hide the Mindy
Run out
Run back in…jump on it to hear the crackle
Run away
What a blast!
Then yesterday, Black Beauty and Loki showed up.
“Hey, Mindy! Where is Boomer? I haven’t seen him for a very long time” Black Beauty woofed at me.
“Yes, Where IS Boomer?” Loki echoed
Their question just stopped me in my tracks.
“You don’t know, Black Beauty? You came every day to visit Boomer.”
“Yes, yes, I did. But then Mom stopped bringing me. Where is Boomer, it would be good to play with him again. To go sniffing around the farmyard seeing who and what has passed through.”
“ME TOO!” Loki yelled. “I haven’t seen Boomer since July when I was here last. Tell him to come out and play.”
I just stared at them.
They don’t know.
They really don’t know.
It shocks me how many love Boomer and are missing him.
Geez.
I sat down, wrapped my tail around my feet, cleared my throat—and began.
Afterward, Black Beauty just hung her head and walked over to her Mom’s car and sat waiting for her Mom to come out.
Loki just looked at me with a huge stunned look on his face.
“But he was HEALTHY in July! Healthy!” Loki sputtered.
“I know. In October he wasn’t healthy. And he left us. Mom cried for days.
I tried not to cry. But there are times when the whole farm just seems lonely.”
“Wow, I can imagine,” Loki exclaimed. “Gosh, it just doesn’t seem right.”
“No, it doesn’t.” I agreed.
About that time Loki’s Mom and Black Beautys’ Mom came to the back door.
“What’s wrong with Black Beauty?” Black Beauty’s Mom asked.
“Gosh, she acts like she is afraid you are going to leave her.” Loki’s Mom replied.
I just looked at both of them. People just never really understand animals, I thought.
My Mom walked out with Shannon and Misty; stooped down and picked me up.
We watch everyone get into the car and drive off.
“I’ll bet you had to tell Boomer’s friends about Boomer, didn’t you, Min-Min.” Mom said while she petted me.
We stayed there a short while.
Then Mom sat me down and I went back to work.
Mom headed into the house.
Boomer’s friends. I thought. How many more do I have to tell. How many friends are Boomer’s friends who don’t know?
Let me count— Freddy Fox,
Oreo the Skunk,
Freddy’s Mom (Shudder),
all the Raccoons…
OH, PLEASE DO NOT MAKE ME TELL THE COYOTES!!! I yowled up into the sky.
I don’t even want to tell the fox family, or Oreo, or the raccoons…
I DO NOT WANT TO TELL THEM! I wailed.
PLEASE, Boomer, Help!
I ran as hard as I could toward the log pile and screeched my plea to the heavens.
PLEASE HELP!
Load by load
Three times a day 
Only taking off two weeks
For Christmas Holiday
Then back we started
Until yesterday
When all we had left were the giant chunks
TADA
The last load!
Set for winter (and maybe next year, only time will tell)
The sky was stunning. A perfect ending to a very big and hard job.
Your friend on a western Colorado farm,
Linda
This morning, the wild marvelous Canada Geese, came to the cornfield next to our house
The air thrummed with the swoosh, swoosh, swoosh of their vigorous flight.
The calls of one to another like a roaring current of waves
Then the Snow Geese came…
Filling in the blank spots among the Canada Geese
The Geese have one cornfield next to our house, and the Sandhill Cranes have another cornfield behind our house—Good Manner’s you see.
What a huge marvelous blessing! The heartbeat of the large winter birds, rustling around in the corn stalks, whispering promises to each other, talking loudly in the wind.
Your friend on a western Colorado farm,
Linda
The Sandhill Cranes have been in our area for at least two months, but never here on our farm
But yesterday morning they CAME
Singing loudly to each other and to any ear that wishes to hear
They have come, shimmering against the gold of last year’s corn stalks, singing tranquility into the air…sunshine streaming in the frigid air.
Joy in my heart!
From my world to your heart,
Linda
Who would have thought a pig would be wandering through on a very cold winter night?
Not Terry and I, but there you have it. A pig caught clearly on the game camera!
We think it must have gotten out of some farmer’s pig and started traveling.
The camera caught the pig moving through Christmas eve. I haven’t seen it since.
Your friend on a western Colorado farm.
Linda
“Linda, Come Here!” Terry called to me.
Once there I saw what he was seeing:
There on the winter-dried-out lawn was a white bird
It was all fluffed up in the 10* (feels like 8*) —– -122 c ) cold—sitting motionless
As we watched through the window it started to warm up enough to want to move
Concentrating on staying warm, yet walking forward
Gradually it made it’s way to the area where we were watching out of the window
Then it was tired, resting near the summer chairs.
After a time, this luminous little feathered creature turned its back to us (I think it might have been hurt, see the black spots and the lack of rounding out feathers?)
Lifted wings and flew away toward the tractor shed, where we saw it no more.
The last time I saw a sight so rapturous was the day of my Daddy’s funeral.
(A New Year night moon through the trees)
What this an Omen? A Sign? Love sent to Terry and me from another existence in time?
From my world to your heart,
Linda
Gosh, this is scary
Do we really want to do 2021? 2020 Was a crazy, over-the-top year!
Okay…here we go!
HAPPY NEW YEAR EVERYONE!
Your friend on a western Colorado farm,
Linda
One of the most painful moments in a person’s life probably comes with the insight that an age has been reached when there is more to look back on than ahead. A Man Called Ove, by Fredrik Backman
The snow came and left. Watering the dry earth. It was nice. I am also glad it is gone.
Here we go…heading into another year.
Good-bye 2020. Thank you for everything, all the good, the lovely, and even the ugly.
Hang on world…here comes 2021!
Your friend on a western Colorado farm,
Linda
Monday it snowed.
Not a lot of snow
Still, enough we walked around in the wet crunchy stuff doing our everyday things
Snow is nice for watering the ground when it melts, coloring the earth in clean,
making shadows disappear.
Your friend on a western Colorado farm,
Linda
Life on a Colorado Farm 