Well, here we are. Another winter in the mountains.

I went outside this morning to feed my rabbits and the wind almost cut through me like the proverbial knife.

I don’t even have a sweater in my closet yet, let alone having out my big coat and big ugly socks.

While my goose-down parka isn’t worn very often, it can mean the difference between getting the job done and staying indoors when the weather turns really cold. While the coat is an important item to have sometimes, big ugly socks are important to me all winter long. There are few things I like less than having my feet feel like blocks of ice.

I have a few pairs of green socks with red tops that are so thick I can barely get my shoes on. They aren’t something I would want to wear to a fashion show, but I can deal with not being invited for a GQ pictorial much easier when I can still feel my toes.

I also need my gloves, both dress and insulated, out of storage. I think I wasn’t prepared this year because winter seemed to come on so quickly.

Actually, it hasn’t really even gotten cold yet, at least not by winter standards. But to my fall-suited body, temperatures in the mid 30s with a brisk wind might as well be zero in a hurricane.

I found myself clinching my thin jacket tightly as I walked the short distance from my truck to the office after lunch, leaning over as if making a pantomime of myself walking into the wind. The only part of the mimic missing was the hand — I didn’t have one stuck out in front of me to feel the door with.

At any rate, I was hoping that I would get acclimated more quickly this year than last.

It seemed like the weather couldn’t make up its mind last year. In fact, I don’t really recall very many extended periods of cold weather, with the exception of a few days in January and February. We had warm weather right up through December, with a few exceptions, if I remember correctly.

Right now, with the colors of fall so brilliant in these hills, it is hard to feel a sense of dread for coming ice storms, power outages, freezing temperatures and howling winds. Everything seems tranquil and lovely.

However, I do realize the the beauty will fall to the ground, leaving only lonely, barren branches shivering in the cold.

Even so, I am the kind of person who enjoys winter, sometimes even more than the summer. The brisk air makes me feel somehow more alive. I might feel differently if I had to stay out for a few days, like some of the local linemen do. I don’t know if I am tough enough for all that, especially when one considers being 25 feet up in the air on a pole with no shelter from the wind hanging up high voltage wire.

Yes, I realize that loving winter might have something to do with my personal situation. I don’t have far to drive to work and usually take long drives on snow by choice only. I also have a big ugly four-wheel-drive truck to drive while wearing my parka and big ugly socks. Those commuting to work in areas below the mountains, dealing with the road conditions on those twisty, downward runs, have my sympathy. The worst I worry about is going out to take a picture of an accident and trying not to be in it myself.

One other thing that bothers me about winter is taking care of the critters when their water starts freezing. Last January, I had to fill up water bottles for the rabbits at least twice a day, removing frozen bottles and carrying them in the house to thaw and hanging up fresh, warm bottles. It made keeping the rabbits a real chore.

I hope that my new set up works better. I have been working on my combination rabbitry and chicken house. It contains cages for all my rabbits and pole space and egg boxes for the chickens. Some of my friends in the south end of the county gave me the idea when they put chickens in with their rabbits. Whatever food the rabbits drop from their hanging cages falls down to the eager chickens, who also score a bonus or two finding bugs in the other things rabbits drop. In addition, my new rabbitry is underground on two sides and has thick cement walls up to about five feet. I think it will stay reasonably warm with little more than a heat lamp or a small kerosene heater.

I have the rabbits inside now and the temperature has stayed above freezing, despite colder temperatures than that outside. I put some cedar shavings on the floor, since it tends to be damp. Once I move the chickens in I will know more. I am going to have to finish putting up insulation in the ceiling and putting in a floor drain, then I think I will pretty well have it licked. Then again, I always think that to start with.

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