When December Refuses To Give You A White Christmas


Brown may not be your favorite color (it's definitely not mine), but December is still looking pretty dramatic with no snow.


Here in Southeast Iowa we've only had a few inches of snow all winter, and there's only a thin sheet of ice left on the ponds. 


The wildflower field looks exactly the same in shape and size, just without the riotous colors. And my favorite tree survived some brutal autumn winds and is still standing strong.


Our maiden grass patch by the barn always looks lovely this time of year. It starts out with new green shoots every spring, mixing in with the golden brown already there, but they'll soon match and stay fall-themed for the rest of the year.


Praise the Lord we don't have to go out and rake the property! With dozens of acres of trees, we'd be out there until spring...no thank you. They do make for some great, crunchy walks, and the puppies are always looking to see if anything's burrowed into the piles that they can roust and chase.


We have a herd of about a dozen does and a couple of bucks this year, and they've been quite active on the wildlife preserve for the past few weeks. The snow is gone but the ponds are full, so there are hoof prints everywhere for the puppies to track and trail.


Which they do! We've gone on several impromptu trail hikes recently because these two got a scent of something interesting. And with no snow to hinder us, we've been exploring all over the property. Maybe not having a white December isn't so bad after all!

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