Learning Life Lessons For Mountain Living

The above photo was taken a few days ago. Woke up this morning and we had 7-8" of fresh snow and even though I have already been out shoveling a path it is still dark so I will have to post photos later. It is good to know that we are ready for winter (except I have not attached the snow thrower yet).

My latest blog which can be found on www.motherearthnews.com at link http://www.motherearthnews.com/homesteading-and-livestock/winter-preparation-zbcz1310.aspx#axzz2hsugNteR tells about all the preparation needed for winter and the short time span that we have to prepare.

We learn from our furry friends which we share the land with.  Even from the little chipmunk that is so abundant.  Early October we stopped seeing them as they had gone into their burrows to hibernate. Unlike our bears they do not feed off of stored fat when they hibernate. Winters are long here so they must store up abundant seeds to eat at intervals throughout our 7 months of winter. The 4-5 months they are active they work hard to store seeds and other edible items in their burrow to survive during our long winters.

We do not hibernate and that is not the lesson we learn from the chipmunk and his relatives the ground squirrels. We work hard during the 4-5 months of summer to get ready for the next winter and then we work hard at shoveling snow and clearing it away from the driveway, walkways and around the house. All of the work required is pretty much spelled out in the above article. There are many things I left out but they only take a few hours to accomplish so I didn't drone on and on about all the little things that are also essential work. The preparation is for mornings like today when I wake up and there is a fair amount of snow accumulation on the ground and it is still snowing. This snow will likely melt off in a few days but in a couple more weeks it will stick for the duration of the winter. The ground is frozen to a couple inches but in a few weeks it will be frozen to a depth of 4 feet deep.

Plenty of firewood and hopefully the needed preparations are done so we are ready for the coming 6-7 months of what nature has in store for us. It is written to point out that living at 9,750' and heating with a wood stove is not easy living and requires plenty of preparation and on going work. Hope you enjoy the article.