February

February 2nd-10th: Amy ventured off with friend, Craig to the Appalachian mountains for a well earned vacation time. Not everyone would agree that hiking 15 miles a day with a 20-30 pound pack up and down mountains in 20 degree temperatures, sleeping on the floor of three sided shelters in single digit temperatures and keeping a constant eye out for bears is their idea of a vacation, but to Amy and Craig, it was ideal; 6 days, 5 nights of bliss. Amy and Craig report that they found some neat stuff, met some super people and had some great adventures along the way, but mostly, they talked about camp 2007! (what else are you going to talk about during 8 hours a day of walking?)

February 11th and 17th: Camp Fairs for Chris. Detroit, and Grand Rapids. With the help of Cathy, Chris ventured off two times in February and made sure that Cedar Lodge was well represented. Chris reported that she met and spoke with many nice families while on the road this year and is very excited by the possibility of seeing some of them this summer!

February 1st-20th: SNOW, SNOW, SNOW!!!!! COLD, COLD, COLD!!!!!

Every winter is different. Certainly, when you have a mild December and January like we did this year, you are able to get all kinds of things done that you wouldn't if the weather was less cooperative. This year, we cut firewood late into January and the ground was still not frozen! We rode, taught riding lessons, worked on breaking young horses, built new doors for the barn, and cleaned and organized working spaces. We were very productive.

Than February hit. Actually, it was January 28th, but whose counting? Overnight, without warning we had 12 inches of snow. Over the next week it snowed 6-12 inches every 24 hours. The temperatures dropped. The winds picked up. Life at Cedar Lodge changed. Our focus was no longer about getting things done and being productive. Our focus turned to not falling behind, and the safety and welfare of the 43 horses that we are responsible for. To that end, every day for the last 3 weeks has revolved around survival.

In a quick e-mail to a camper mom (Meredith, Mason's mom) it became apparent to me that not everyone has to think the way we do once the snow (over 3 1/2 feet of it) and cold (Never above freezing for 3 weeks, averaging around 5-10 degrees) and wind (usually 15-20 MPH, making the temperature feel often below 0) comes to visit. Meredith asked me some specific questions about life at Cedar Lodge in the big chill. "Why don't you write up an article for the web site?" she asked. Well, I think I will.

Plowing: First thing you have to realize is that anything off of a driveway may look like a great place to take a walk, but it's not..... unless you have snow shoes or cross country skis......which are great, but definitely in the recreation category, NOT the chore and day to day living category. So. Part of my (Amy)'s job is to keep not only the driveways plowed. This job, from start to finish can take anywhere from 6-12 hours. Really. It depends on how much snow. Sometimes, it's cold enough and snowing enough, that you end up plowing about 4-6 hours a day for days because it just won't stop snowing and blowing! It is not enough to plow the stable, Chris's and Stella's driveway, but I plow a walk way anywhere that people have to regularly walk. That means from Chris's house to the barn, from the barn to the horse gate, behind the arena, and from Stella's house to the small date by the water trough. When that plowing is done, it in fact, gives us a loop which in search for somewhere to exercise many of us do laps on. The loop is 1/4 mile long and yes, we have been known to both walk with hiking poles and jog it for up to 3 miles. The dogs think it's a little crazy running around in circles, but whose asking them?

Some familiar faces.....

CEDAR LODGE

February