Finding Support in Snowstorms: A Journey Home

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Well, my friends, it has been a winter wonderland recently out here at #Itsnotta Farm! The big fluffy flakes are still coming down as I type tonight, and it is supposed to keep coming for a few more hours… here’s hoping I can get out to work tomorrow! Which is where my muse meets us for this week’s post: travelling home from work last week! Usually, by the time I am heading home from work it is beginning to get dark. My commute is about 12 minutes on a good day… along two fairly decent two lane “highways”. One day last week was whiteout conditions. Now, when the weatherman says whiteout out here, it means the snow drifts across the farmer’s fields… and with the predicted 100 kilometer winds, the snow piled up deep and fast!

Photo by Apti Newim on Pexels.com

So here was my scenario… it’s dark, the wind is whipping across the fields, driving snow over and across the roads. It’s not bad driving along until: BAM you hit the snow drift at 60 clicks. Cars were spun out and dotting the road here and there. I moved slow and tried to see ahead for the dangers… almost home. Just before the turn off onto our street… flashing yellow lights. Big 18 wheeler in the ditch and the flatbed tow truck in my lane. Okay angels, get me around and back into my own lane safely…phew. Signal well in advance to turn… here I go….and OOOF.

I literally could not see in front of my face… the snow was blowing so hard between our two farmers fields I could not see… and the snow drift it created was about 3 feet high. Do I gun it and hope I make it only to get stuck deep in the middle of the drift? Do I call it here? Do I turn around and head back 10 minutes and try my luck at the other end of the road? Quick prayers and call for help. “Hi honey… I am abandoning the car here at the end of the road and walking home… no I can’t see, yes, I am fine, yes …I suppose it is stuck….I have boots…” I struggle to put my boots on and hit the flashers. I am now a country girl… I can do this. I’m so close to home, I made it this far… I can’t feel my face…

Just then, I see the head lights of a large truck… my farmer neighbour pulls up along the other side of the now 30 foot long drift. I smile my dumb-city-girl-moved-to-the country-and-can’t-drive-in-the-snow smile. “You okay? I’m going to go get my plow… be 15 minutes” as he drives his big truck through and back around. (At least now the wind had died down enough to see each other). Another set of headlights on the other end of the drift… Hubby has arrived! I drudge through the pile of snow, bare feet shoved in winter boots, purse, keys, lunch bag and shoes gathered around me as the wind whipped at my face like a scene from some crazy adventure story… I hopped in the van and drove home while my superhero hubby waited for the good Samaritan farmer to come back with the plow to get the car through. I am sure they both had a laugh at my expense and an exchange of words about country weather. I thank them both for “rescuing me”.

Not my real neighbour… but you get the idea!

As I thought about this, I wonder how many times have people needed to be rescued in life? Many of us. In fact, I am guessing all of us at some point need rescuing. We go through life’s trials slowly… trying to see ahead and making cautious choices to move around the flashing yellow lights. We put the high beams on and press forward. We almost make it home… and then we turn the corner and get hit with the drift that is just too big to plow through without help.

Are you hearing it, my friend? Have you been there struggling to put on your boots when you can’t feel your face and plan to “walk home” leaving the troubles behind? Luckily, God provides a Way. He sends community to help. It’s not just coincidence that neighbours just happen to be out driving in snowstorms. Phone calls are readily available. In 2025, we have no excuses not to check in on one another. Many of us are blinded by our surroundings. We can’t feel our faces, but we are determined to make it on our own. Until we get stuck. I was in no real danger. Yet, many of us are hiding our troubles, cruising along on our own until: BAM we hit the drift full force. Joyfully, God is right there waiting for us… we simply need to ask… and He’ll plow the way and clear the storm. He doesn’t promise the snow will stop, or that the wind won’t blow…. but He’ll be there to dig us out of the ditch when we veer off the road.

Photo by Jon Tyson on Unsplash

So, beloveds, if you don’t need rescuing this week… be the neighbour. Bring the plow around and clear the way for someone else to maneuver through the snowdrifts of life. Be there at the other end of the call when someone threatens to walk home alone like a crazy person. Flash the yellow lights and be a guide for what may be ahead. Protect and pray. I’ll be thinking of you as we dig our way out of this current dumping … and hoping I make it to work in the morning! Blessings, my friends!

The Story of Nieve: A Cat Named for Winter

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I wanna tell you a little story about how our female cat came to arrive at our house. I’ve always had long haired Persians or Himalayan pure bred cats, but the breed standard was changing and the push face Persian was no longer my favourite. So, we (okay I) researched the next pretty kitty and discovered a Birman breeder about an hour or two from where we were living at the time. I wanted a boy. Boy cats are always better (we can debate that later… but trust me). A litter of kittens later and long story short, a girl is what we got, so we just went with it. After all, she was a cute little bundle of fluffy white fur, and declared my birthday present to myself. I had to wait for some time before she arrived, but the real story comes on the day of her pick up to come home.

Dec. 17, 2016….worth the trip!

We drove the hour plus in a blinding snowstorm, complete with freezing rain, wind and white outs. The hubby was determined to please his wife, and so we continued on the journey arriving with carrier in hand to complete the sale. Upon arrival, after a somewhat harrowing trip, he refused to “talk cat” with two crazy cat ladies, so he decided to wait in the car as we went over pedigrees and plans. More than likely resting from the white knuckling drive. Finally the little bundle of joy was wrapped snug in her little blankie… but the car battery(exhausted by the wait) was now dead. A few choice words later and a boost from the breeder’s husband… both men seemingly weary from the chit chat of the said crazy cat ladies… the vehicle roared once more and we were finally on our way.

Now, I tell you this story to paint the picture of how “Nieve” got her name. A breeder often lists litters by alphabet, and this litter was “N”, so we searched for names depicting ice, snow, sleet etc. Nieve means “snow” in Spanish. It worked… and it stuck. Yup, around here, the weather is worth naming your cat after. We live in Canada. It’s cold. We now have a farmer’s field in front of us and field behind us. The wind whips through our yard like a tyrant on a rampage. It’s cold. I drove home in the dark the other night and hit a snow drift pushed across the road from the fields north of us. I slid through it. It’s cold. Did I mention we live in Canada? And did I mention it’s cold here?

Photo by Lauren Hedges on Pexels.com

This week a “polar vortex” is going through our neck of the woods. It’s cold. The wind is brutal and my bunnies and chickens are outside. The rabbits seem to tolerate it, but every morning the chick birds peep out and say “Nope, my skin wrapped chicken feet do not like the feeling of snow nor ice!” And off they go back inside. The water dishes freeze and I must replenish them several times. The yard is littered with “ice pucks” where I have cracked out the dish shaped “disk” and replaced it with liquid water. It’s cold.

Still, I suppose we are luckier than others. Our face isn’t freezing off at first sight. My hands are feeling it — but I still have all the tips of my fingers and toes. I still run out without full proper winter attire to do animal chores. And I survive. It’s harsh, but it’s better than a lot of places. It’s funny when you think about weather. I wonder why God let the seasons happen. Why did it become part of His science? It’s a muse I think about especially when the weather gets like this.

There certainly are a lot of biblical references to weather: “white a snow” “cold hearts”, and the like. Storms, rain and the calm. I guess people haven’t changed all that much… we still talk about the weather! I suppose it is a topic that unites us in some way… we all have our weather story. Like picking up Nieve. I suppose our God stories should be as easy to talk about as the weather. A natural part of our daily existence. Something not quite under our control but a part of us nonetheless. An underlying “thing” that changes the way we should prepare for the day… we put on our gloves and boots like we should put on our graceful attitudes. Our hearts should overflow with what they hold inside. Is your heart cold ? Or is it overflowing with God’s spirit … like the wind rushing through the farmer’s fields.

Dress warm my friends… inside and out!

(Photo generated with A.I.)

Anyway… this cold is what I’ve been thinking about this week. I hope it makes you (and I) reflect on how it can be an example for us. Thanks for hanging out and talking about the weather with me. You’ve been a good Canadian! Here’s to a warmer week next week!

Embrace Growth: My Word of the Year for 2025

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Welcome back to another episode of me having no idea what to write about but doing it anyway. I suppose it is time to share with you my word of the year. After all, it’s already pretty much the middle of January and it’s time to start living it out. In case you’re new here, the last few years, instead of making resolutions and plans to change or transform my life into something I am not, I have chosen a #wordoftheyear. It’s a way of making broad, all encompassing goals based on more of a “theme” than a strict hard and fast rule. And so, I have chosen to try again this year.

I thought a little about it over the holidays and wondered what we could plan for this year. Physically, the garden was on the top of the list. We cleared our garden spot and tried last year, but after a two week vacation… weeds took over and our garden plot was reduced to a far gone experiment that utterly failed in my brain, and was not to be resurrected for the rest of the season. We got a few pumpkins, but as any homesteader will tell you, pumpkins can grow in the manure heap with little help. Plant pumpkins in the garden of life. Trust me.

Trust me…plant pumpkins!
Photo by James Wheeler on Pexels.com

Along with the garden thoughts, I feel my personal growth has settled a bit over the last year and a half of being here in our new community. We’ve settled at a new church, the youngest has begun to make some real friends at school, and we are feeling a bit more connected to our surroundings. We can tell you where some of the cool places are to eat and officially can maneuver a few of the “back roads”. We know our space and some of the needs required to flourish here (or at least survive). I’ve had a few employment opportunities and learned some stuff. Our house chores are still on going but we have “moved in”.

We were blessed with our new grand baby and have entered in to that new stage. (EEK!) Friends are starting to travel more and work less and we are beginning to peek at what retirement might look like — okay maybe not retirement, but slowing down and easing into a slower place, less focused on work and more on building legacy and mentorship of the next generation. A few more aches and pains come along with that role. And learning to listen to your limitations has been… challenging.

And so, as I reflect and muse about how we have moved forward in the past year, I look toward 2025 with flourishing in mind. Therefore, my word for 2025 is “GROWTH”. Perhaps a bit common as far as #wordsoftheyears go, but it’s how I feel God will work in us this year. We have settled. We’ve been planted… and now it’s time to grow where we’ve been planted. I’ve been Brave and tried to Refresh and Renew. We failed at making Magic, so it’s time to sit still, be slow, reach for the sun and GROW.

Photo by Markus Spiske on Unsplash

You all know what a promoter of forever learning I am…and so Growth seems to be a logical place to start. Seeds have been sown here. It’s time to see some green pop up around those little seeds. I’m not sure we are at the fruit stage yet, but growth is a reasonable goal, don’t you think? Our new grandson will make 100 firsts this year. He will grow. My chick birds have matured into adults and my passion for the pets hasn’t stopped growing… I still want to learn and discover (think baby goats and that new garden!) I want to plan a gallery wall for the house and landscape the pond. The family is maturing and we are moving to empty nest status most of the summers. The hubby and I are moving back to “just us” and learning to juggle that all over again. (I must say the reduced grocery bill is a nice perk, though, with no teenagers to feed all summer!)

Spiritually, growing in Christ is an ongoing goal. At least it should be. I continue to reflect on God’s handy work in nature… I seem to be seeing more sunrises than sunsets these days, so my perspective is changing from party city to country rooster calls (I can’t believe it! I refuse to be a “morning person” I refuse to be a morning person, I refuse to be a morning person….) Perhaps God will grant me new mercies every morning, and I will heed them as growth. Seeds that were planted will grow. I look forward to how God will work in 2025 under the umbrella of my word of the year.

Are you ready to join me on the next adventure? Are you planning on following along in the ups and downs and crazy thoughts in my brain that get posted here on a (relatively) weekly basis? Let’s grow together, friends…Let’s grow together…