Altivo

It's really cold outside and getting colder. I'm huddled by the stove with two cats and a dog and trying to distract myself. Here's a picture postcard that our friend Amy gave us. It was originally postmarked in August of 1913, just a couple of weeks after my father was born. It shows the biggest haystack we've ever seen.

Judging by the size of the horses and humans, I estimate the height of that pile at 40 or 50 feet, equivalent to a four story building. It's all loose hay, too, not bales. Only the weight of the hay and the clever way the pile is constructed keeps it in place.

Tonight and tomorrow could well be the coldest we'll see this season. Wind chills are going down as low as -28F, no time to be caught outdoors without protection. All the animals will be kept in tomorrow unless, like the ducks and the two boys, they can have free access to a sheltered interior space.