Fire

There was a recent blog post about a rescue in Nebraska that dealt with a fire wiping out most of their pasture and a fence line. I follow them on Facebook but don't actually know the operator. Fire is a scary beast. The same day that the rescue I mentioned lost their pasture, I was looking out the window only to see flames as well. Luckily it was a controlled burn set by the local fire department. However, it was per request of our neighbor. We were never informed by either the fire department (nor do I think they have to) or our neighbor (which in these parts is a courtesy).

We are already in a fire ban so I was surprised that the fire department would agree.  But I guess if someone is to set a fire, it best be the fire department to keep it contained and managed. As it was, the wind was out of the north west and smoke rolled through our property. Had it gotten out of hand, we too could have lost our pasture. And because we are not a non-profit, we can't go in search of grants. So I thank my lucky stars that we only had to deal with the smoke from the fire and the shock of seeing flames while looking out the kitchen window. There would have been NO time to get the horses evacuated safely.

I'm also starting to worry. I'm a little bit more free to talk about it this time around. When the fire department came last week, I was 16 weeks pregnant. As things seem to unfold, I was also 16 weeks pregnant with our son when we had our fire at the Sanctuary. Unplanned and completely scary. Luckily no one was hurt and we only lost a building (and are still dealing with the after affects of the ordeal).

But I'm starting to see the same trend.  We are already starting to go into drought mode. We haven't had rain or snow in weeks. I would have sworn we were going to get dumped on in March because of all the snow in December. So far, not a drop. The pastures need the rain. The ground is already cracking. I'm worried that if we don't get some rain soon, we'll be left with only a months worth of pasture. This time around, we wont' have a nice neighbor who will let us graze his pasture. We'll have to supplement with hay and that will only add to the always increasing hay bill that we face. And being that we are not non-profit, I can't go in search of grants that could help us.

So I'm getting nervous. I'm going to keep my fingers crossed that we get rain in the near future.