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Hanks: The rodent has spoken

Well by golly gentle readers, that rodent has spoken. Yep, it’s gonna’ be six more weeks of winter.

Of course that’s no surprise to anyone living in the mountain states as we don’t expect for spring to arrive until winter is completely over. That could be the middle of April or the end of May.

To tell the truth we just haven’t had much of a winter. I finally got about 7 inches of snow here at the ONO this past week. I have to tell ya that it was pretty nice to have all of my equipment in the shop out of the weather.



It was also really nice to be in a tractor with a cab that had a heater and a radio. Man, Charlie Brown, that sure makes for a more comfortable job of moving snow out of the way.

“I expect some bigger and wetter snows towards the end of this month and on into March. March is the snowiest month in the mountain states.”

So, when I went out this morning to feed my ponies it was almost 45 degrees! Heck that’s a summer night up in the mountains and I always welcome that type of a warm morning in the winter. It just doesn’t happen all that much and that’s what makes me appreciate it so much.



When we lived in north-central Texas, where this time of the year the clovers are coming out and wheat pastures — if not overgrazed — are almost at their best along with the rye grass that grows right along with the wheat.

Cattle are starting to get that really good daily gain from what they consume. By March there can be a lot of bloat problems that require constant prowling a’horseback to treat any serious issues.

Oh yeah, we had the bloat blocks out along with some hay to compensate, but a bovine is a bovine and just like kids at school they can show up sick at any time.

I expect some bigger and wetter snows towards the end of this month and on into March. March is the snowiest month in the mountain states. Usually it might rain some first or rain with heavy wet snow and the ground turns to mush. But in the long run the creek is running and the grass will begin to show some green chutes in April.

The ol’ ponies will begin to shed some winter hair and my nose will most likely run like the Coal Creek that cuts across my place.

I did catch a fairly nice day a couple of weeks back and decided I should ride ol’ Nugget since he hadn’t been ridden in a few months. I didn’t expect any trouble out of him and didn’t receive but just a little bit of resistance as we got farther and farther away from the barn and his buddy Howdy.

After our ride, I jumped on the Harley and made a little run into town to get the mail. Both rides were refreshing.

I will tell ya that gettin’ on the Harley was a lot easier that gettin’ on Nugget. Either he is getting taller or I’m getting shorter. Hummmmm, wonder which is closest to the truth?

Well, just come on Mr. Winter and lets get it done so Miss Spring can appear and give old Mother Earth a fresh look.

Nothing like those baby calves bucking and running round all over the country. As old as I may feel at times, I can always find a reason to be young again at least in spirit.

Stay tuned, check yer cinch on occasion, and be kind to radicals if you happen to come in contact. I did have that one woman recently with a “left leaning view” bounce a few rocks off my head by email, but I thanked her for reading my column and reminded her that I had the right to offend her as she had me. That’s all, I’ll C. y’all, all y’all.❖


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