Return of the White Stuff

We began the New Year with heavy-duty rain and gusty winds. It was so bad that Indy didn't even want to step out onto the covered porch after ringing the bell to go outside. Guess he didn't have to "go" that badly!

So we went to bed last night with rain beating against the roof and skylights. And woke up to -- SNOW! Again.

As best as I can tell, sometime during the night the rain turned to sleet, then snow that got slushy, then rain that froze when it hit the snow. What appeared to be a mere dusting of snow was actually slick and icy. I had to outfit my waterproof/insulated Ariats with the YakTrax for Indy's morning walk. I crunched through our a.m. trek.

The streets were melting in time to head out for the barn. But when I crossed The River, there were no further signs of snow! When I returned home in the afternoon I expected the snow to be melted. But our burb still had quite a bit of the overnight dusting intact. Okaaay.

Possibility of an additional dusting of snow overnight as temperatures drop.

BARN TIME:

"Dizzy/I'm so dizzy, my head is spinnin'/Like a whirlpool, it never ends...." Anyone else out there remember the Tommy Roe bubblegum classic?

Another brief ride on Phantom today. Between both of us being out of shape after our extended "vacation" and the crazy weather, I settled for another quickie ride. I got some round and connected walk, and beachball, connected posting trot, so I was happy with that.

Did circle after circle. Hence, the tune and lyrics from "Dizzy" latching onto the brain. I worked at one end of the arena while handsome Emaus was longed at the other end. I was intending to concentrate on circles anyway, so it worked out well. I do a 20 meter circle, and 10 meter circles within it at the four points of the large circle (north, south, east, west). I throw in an occasional figure 8 and make S-shaped changes in direction. Tried a couple of spiral in and outs, but they weren't very pretty today. Phantom is still a bit stiff through the middle and I haven't yet regained the strength to assist him with his bend.

Emaus generally has a lot of p___ and vinegar to work through on the longe line, but Phantom didn't seem to care what was going on at the other end of the arena. What was a bit unnerving was the storm cell that moved through while I was in the saddle. We have a "weather wall" in our arena: the east-facing long wall is a partial that allows views of Mt. Hood and whatever is falling at the moment. While I was riding we had hail, snow, snow/rain, etc. It's a bit distracting to wonder if one needs to abandon riding to get the heck home before the roads really get bad.

As it turned out, my ride pretty much ended when the storm did. But even though the sun came out, it was still chilly. I returned to the little barn to find Boarder Genevieve wrapped in Zorro's wool cooler while he looked at her with an expression that said, "Shouldn't I be wearing that?"