Before the storm, the animals gather together, the sky turns gray, the sun fades, the temperature begins to drop, there is a heavy feeling in the air. Expecting between six inches and a foot, nobody around here believes the weather forecasts anymore but if you live with animals you know the signs, they begin to gather themselves, except Red, who never seems to notice anything but the sheep when he is in the pasture.

I can feel it too, a dankness to the air, we will perhaps not be going anywhere tonight. The Weather Channel is naming it’s two big storms after Greek Gods and Goddesses, I hope they got their permissions straight, they might regret it, I’m not sure how Gods feel about being used as marketing tools.

We went to the pasture, opened up the inside stills, hauled the hay feeder into the Pole Barn, gave out some grain and alfalfa bites, filled some buckets up with water. The storm is supposed to begin around midnight, I always pay the animals a late night visit in a storm, otherwise I can’t sleep.