Coffee Clutch with Dutch Henry: "Sounds Of A Snowy Morning"

Monday, February 4, 2013

"Sounds Of A Snowy Morning"

Howdy Folks,

An almost invisible snow floated down. It didn't cover the ground or the pines, rather it laid a delicate lace blanket over them. Snuggled in the barn with Kessy, Saturday and a few chickens, I took in the back-lit gray sky, and the beauty of the morning. The air so calm the large snowflakes drifted like so many feathers dropped from a window, slowly gliding left and right to finally settle on bough, branch or ground.

Juncos, a few of them sporting a lacy snowflake or two on their slate gray backs, scratched at cracked corn scattered for the chickens under low sheltering branches. As the snow grew heavier they were joined by Cardinals, Doves and Chickadees. Soon a few White Throated Sparrows stopped by. The snow never got so heavy as to change lace to blanket, but it did encourage a few more chickens to dash under roof and join the Coffee Clutch. One by one they wandered in and stopped just inside to shake the snow flurries from their backs. Too many chose to do it next to Kessy's hay as they entered, and when she'd had enough, one poor rooster was greeted with pinned ears, a glare and a shove and sent him squawking and scurrying away. She caught the poor fellow completely by surprise and he ran almost to the far end of the barn before he risked stopping again. Saturday, asleep beside my chair woke up, sort of, to see what the sudden noise was all about, then tucked his head and sighed.

Did you ever notice how peacefully quiet a snowy morning is? On mornings as quiet as this we're always treated to the far away train whistle. It serves as a back drop to Kessy's munching hay, the chickens' clucking, rooster's crows and the Cardinals', Juncos', and other birds' chatter just outside the barn. Ah the sounds of a snowy morning. Nothing quite like it. Well until the spring brings us the serenades of song birds.

The Coffee Clutch Gang, Kessy, Saturday, Tigger, Miss Kitty, & me.

The Coffee Clutch gang hopes you have a perfect day, and have the chance to take in a few happy sounds today.

Gitty Up,

Dutch Henry

2 comments:

AnonymousFebruary 4, 2013 at 9:50 AM
Looking outside my bathroom window that overlooks my pasture, I was surveying the property looking for my girls. All were eating the round bale and loving life........as I panned back to the gate, I saw a pretty good size Red Headed Woodpecker sitting on the fence. I expected him to fly up to the trees but much to my surprise, he flew to the ground and started to scratch and eat whatever a woodpecker eats. He was gorgeous. Great way to wake up ain't it Dutch?! Happy Monday :)
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Welcome to the Coffee Clutch

Welcome to the Coffee Clutch, a happy place to visit. I write uplifting stories about a wide variety of subjects from horses to birds and nature, to love and family and friends. Sometimes I'll post excerpts from stories I've written for Equine Publications. Sometimes I'll post about writing itself. Coffee Clutch got its name because I often write while enjoying my morning coffee in the barn with my mare Kessy, and all our critters. Join us here for fun conversation and stories I promise will make you feel good.

It's For The Horses

This is not a book about riding, or training horses. It is a book on my thoughts, ideas and suggestions on how folks might find the joy in doing things for the horse, with the horses’ point of view as the leading guide. My hope is to help as many people as possible learn to hear the horse, feel their spirit, and in that way help horses everywhere. Over the years I’ve met and worked with remarkable people and horses who taught me about their feelings, their joys, their sadness, and their spirit. As a horse advocate everything I do is from the horse’s perspective, including this little book. Every story, idea, suggestion and thought on these pages will be to suggest and share thoughts and ideas on how to maximize a relationship between horse and human—from the horse’s point of view.

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