Winter in Texas

Santa got lost in Texas...

"Your pretty dumb like me, he said, to work in the wintery frost"

... with ya on that one Santa.

... & perhaps he couldn't leave

Because at the moment Texas is experiencing record-breaking cold and ice. This morning Fort Worth had to shut down the freeways so that a "Task Force" could work on clearing ice off the roads that in some areas is 8" thick. Not. Okay.

Last week it got a little chilly... in fact our donkey had little icicles on his ears...

My Canadian friends basically told me to zip it since they were experiencing the beginning of what would become -40 C weather. Yes friends, my hometown/home province was one of the coldest places IN THE WORLD for about a week and a half.. sorry guys, that's just bad luck.

Then, the storm hit, and it got REAL cold in Texas REAL fast.

None of my friends and family seem to care, since they are all living in Antarctica currently (actually.. Antarctica is warmer), but I know for a fact it is really cold. How do I know this? Because I have been wearing MORE clothes out here while riding than I ever did in our unheated barn in the dead of Winter  in Calgary last year.

The problem with Texas cold is that it is humid, so when it gets cold, it starts to rain, then it starts to sleet, then it starts to rain down ice chunks from the sky, and all this "snow" that you see in my photos? It's actually legitimately pure ice... no snow here... just a big statewide skating rink.

Infact, part of our roof caved in, in several different parts of our barn, so we had to move horses around.

Jake, one of our three year olds, was ELATED that the resident goofy stud, Bear got placed beside him.

Because they played, and played, and played all day long, and have finally just settled down. 

My second major problem with the Texas cold, the first being the gosh-darn-stupid-I-hate-it RAIN all the time, is that Texans just don't know how to deal with cold. So, instead of building INSULATED barns, and INDOOR arenas, all the barns are just shells (hence the roof caving in from ice in some areas) and all the arenas are semi open. Ours is three walls, and then the back wall is opened out to pens and runs in and out for the cows. That means that even when you are inside, you are freezing cold due to third major problem, the wind.

Rain + Semi-Outdoor Arenas + Wind

= Not. Okay.

Everyone likes to come up to me and say "This must just be a breeze for you, hey you crazy Canadian?" & i'm over here in 18 layers, soaked to the bone, wanting to die, like ... actually I want to die now, thanks.

The one thing I do find amusing about this whole situation is how wholly unprepared Texans are for this. Driving back from Fort Worth the night when the storm first began, Boss-man told us to put the truck and trailer in 4 wheel drive and drive slow. The loper driving about had a mental breakdown because she had never driven in 4 wheel and thought she wasn't allowed to go above 30 mph. I tried to explain to her that in Canada I drive in 4 wheel all winter long and that's what it's meant for... bad conditions. Well, she tried to speed up and kept saying "IT WONT LET ME", so I just let it go thinking she was being a nitwit, after asking her several times "You're in 4 wheel hi right??" She kept saying she was. Yep... turns out she was in 4 wheel low, and had no idea what that even meant. Sigh... They were also SHOCKED and totally confused about the concept of "winter tires" haha.

The Cactus, I am sure, are not happy about their new frozen conditions...

Cactus just aren't meant for this kind of weather, ya'll.

Nor, am I.

The boys found a good way to amuse themselves in the ice...

Finally, this evening, the sun started to appear again and we got a bit of a release from the crazy storm. Fingers crossed that we're almost out of it...

So yes, Canada, I feel awfully bad for you guys, and I hope that you are all staying warm. There is nothing okay with how cold it is up there right now... absolutely ridiculous!

But atleast you have indoor arenas to ride in, and are prepared for snow.. unlike Texas, where the whole state is having an ice-induced mental breakdown.