It’s been a while since I last posted, so I thought I would check in and bid you all a blessed Christmas and prosperous New Year. May you find the grace of God to persevere in seeking first His Kingdom and righteousness, no matter what may come. Thank we all for the merciful loving kindness of the great King, Savior, and Shepherd, the Lord Jesus Christ, Amen.

We had a pretty decent blizzard early Christmas morning.   The last time the national weather service issued a blizzard warning for this area was back in 1982. We didn’t get a lot of snow, maybe five or six inches, but the winds were ferocious and the temperatures quite bitter. We received a thick coating of freezing rain before the snow came so the roads are treacherous with drifts of two feet or more. The winds have calmed down to a steady 25 mph, but with the temperature in the lower teens and the relative humidity 90%, the wind chill factor is a bone aching -8, though quite mild compared to the typical blizzards of the Dakotas. It’s been quite a wet year with over 54 inches in precipitation, not including the snowfall.

While the blizzard roared outside last night, I spent a delightful Christmas Eve with my wife and daughter enjoying home baked treats with Suzie’s eggnog and watching a few classics, but especially we savored the homemade tamales made from grass fed Longhorn and local venison, crafted by Carmen and Jan, our resident poet. I haven’t quite figured out why It’s a Wonderful Life is so wonderful, as it’s largely a story about a neurotic businessman,  George Bailey, who is saved from his own personal demons by the intervention of an eccentric angel that goes bar hopping with him to rescue him while putting him through a tormenting nightmare to teach him to appreciate his wonderful life. If old George Bailey went running around the streets today ranting and raving like a lunatic, he would soon be arrested and put on a strict diet of antidepressants and other meds to save him. We did enjoy Jesus of Nazareth (1977 version).

I spent the majority of the Christmas Eve day outside in cold winds and drizzling rain taking care of an irksome problem with the water set up for Bonnie and Gale, our Percheron draft horse mares, which was chiefly a leaking water tank bought new a few weeks ago. I hauled it back to town to exchange it for another one and while there I also exchanged a bad milk-barn heater I bought three weeks ago. Last week I exchanged the new tank heater that was purchased for the new water tank that went bad. Finding quality products these days is hard.

Before venturing out to care for the animals, I am enjoying a good cup of coffee and the company of Stella the kitty, who is nestled sound asleep in her customary place in my lap curled up in the crook of my left arm, which makes for interesting times trying to type. God be with you all. — The Rural Missourian