20 Degree Difference

It's amazing what a 20 degree difference in temperature will do for my mood (and the horses). I went out to do chores last night (in the dark) and it was beautiful...for January in South Dakota.


Usually in  winter, when the wind blows, you feel it before you hear it and you don't typically appreciate hearing the wind. In the summer and fall, it's always lovely to listen to the wind rustle the leaves in the trees.


With the "heat wave" we are experiencing and while filling the water tank, I hear the wind in the trees last night before it reached me (I was around the corner out of the wind). It was such a pleasant night. It's very rare that we have a pleasant night in January when we are in the midst of winter but I wanted to take the rare opportunity to enjoy it. Of course I was rushing to get chores done so I could get in  and get the kids to bed but it was nice to simply stand there and listen and not be chilled to the bone and worry about the horses getting cold or going through more hay than we can afford (which they do anyway).


I am  looking forward to spring but I just recently started rereading a blog. The gal that wrote the blog had such a strong insight into nature and looking at the bright side of life. I never talked with her nor did she ever know me but she made an impact and when I'm feeling down, I go back to her blog and reread her musings and look  through her pictures. The pictures are from Africa so of course it's not white, which helps brighten my day. But there is sadness is reading the blog because the gal was killed in a car accident last year. But it does amaze me that even though she is gone from this earth, she still makes an impact on the way I think and when  I'm down, I return to her blog and she reminds me yet again to look at the simple things in life and to appreciate them as they come.


So last night, I appreciated the breeze on my face and the wind in the trees because it wasn't a biting cold and not long from now, the wind will be a summer breeze.