Our dog brought us a newspaper this morning. That's amazing! We are almost a quarter of a mile from the road. The bad news is that we don't subscribe to the newspaper. Oops!

My wife goes to France to ride horses and all I get is the pictures!

We live at a moment when our relationships to each other, and to all other beings with whom we share this planet, are up for grabs.

Carl Sagan

It has been a cold, dreary two days. The freezing rain and sleet has made travel hazadous. Our workers cannot come in because of the weather. That means Andi and I have been spending quality time cleaning stalls. Both of us having been suffering from the same quasi-flu that has affected most of the tri-state area. The difference is that we cannot take the day off. The good news is that we are not getting the 12 to 24 inches of snow that my parents in Virginia are looking at. It is hard to believe that the same storm that has pelted us with freezing rain and sleet is dropping so much snow in Virginia. I am grateful.

We got a new and unusual visitor to our lake this year, a black swan. I was surprised to find a bird that is typically wild and native to Austrailia hanging around Goshen in the winter. After talking to a couple of neighbors I found the owner and figured out the story. The neighbor has several swans he has domesticated. The swan was seen at another neighbor's lake until it froze over. It came to our lake because our lake has an aerator. The aerator is primarily used to add oxygen to the lake. When the air bubbles up from the bottom of the lake it  brings warmer water with it to the top and keeps the lake from freezing. The swan needs the safety of open water to avoid a fatal encounter with a coyote.

We put our pony, Poke Man, down yesterday. He was quite old and arthritic in his hocks. We knew it was going to happen this year and were hopeful it would be quick without too much pain. He was popular with the kids and a favorite companion to several of our horses. Ursula shared a stall with him until recently and was very attached to him. Yesterday he just did not want to get up. It was obvious that he was in pain and it was noon before we forced him up to his feet. His time had come.