Winter has found us. It was 81 degrees yesterday, but really breezy. Then the breezy turned into our typical Wyoming winds....sustained at 30, gusts to 40. The temps dropped and all during the night the winds picked up - and boy did they pick up - until our sustained were 40 - 50 with gusts to 60.. We were supposed to get thunderstorms with it, but they didn't materialize. Our volunteer fire department was out all day yesterday fighting field fires. Around here folks burn their fields and the irrigation ditches in preparation for planting. Obviously we were under a "no burn" order but I guess some don't believe that meant them, too. So these poor guys and gals were out there working 3 fires all day and into the night. Smoke was thick in the air. Ken had gone to Cody and he said when he turned the last corner at Deaver on his way home it was so smoky that at first he thought it was dust until he got a whiff of the smoke and started driving through it. Flames were being fanned toward Cowley. Fires were around Deaver and Byron. It was a long night, and the rain that we sure could have used to put those fires out or at least help the firefighters didn't come. Now this morning the air seems clearer, the winds are still howling, and it's snowing. We could get 1-4 inches (amount depends on location) around here and 4-6 inches in the higher elevations, but since it's coming down sideways I don't see how they'll measure it.
Wind was blowing so hard last night that the walls of this old trailer house were literally banging into the headboard of our bed. Don't even wanna know how many tree branches will be out in the yard. Temp wise we went from 81 to 30 in 8 + hours.
And we went to bed about 11. (Yes we can sleep through that kind of winds - happen here all the time) Ken woke me up about 4 with one word - "the chicks"! Power had gone out sometime during the night and we don't know how long it was out. The power coming back on is what woke him. So we ran out there to find Mama Heating Pad totally shut off but the straw packed around the cave had retained just barely enough heat to sustain them. We got that puppy back on pronto. When Sunbeam calls it's premier heating pad "Insta-heat" it knows from whence it speaketh! Gonna go out and check on them as soon as Jenny drops off baby Kendra for the day but they seemed fine when we were out there at 4.
So, how was Team Rachel's night?
And we went to bed about 11. (Yes we can sleep through that kind of winds - happen here all the time) Ken woke me up about 4 with one word - "the chicks"! Power had gone out sometime during the night and we don't know how long it was out. The power coming back on is what woke him. So we ran out there to find Mama Heating Pad totally shut off but the straw packed around the cave had retained just barely enough heat to sustain them. We got that puppy back on pronto. When Sunbeam calls it's premier heating pad "Insta-heat" it knows from whence it speaketh! Gonna go out and check on them as soon as Jenny drops off baby Kendra for the day but they seemed fine when we were out there at 4.
So, how was Team Rachel's night?
