Colonel's Blog, Earthdate 23 Dec 2022
Hey Ya'll! It's COLD!!
When flying the F-15E in the extreme cold, we had to allow for extra time to complete our ground operations. Not only did it take extra time to do the preflight walk-around, but there were added steps after start such as slowly warming up the flight controls so that the hydraulic lines could warm prior to full pressure. Farming in the extreme cold similarly takes longer to do everything.
All of the animals were alive and quite spunky this morning in the -5 degree (-26 degree windchill) cold. The birds are all hanging out in their "chick shaws" on top of the straw we put on the wire floor. That is, except for the ducks who are out and about almost like normal. The only difference for them is that they keep squatting to warm their feet. The livestock guardian dogs are all very excited that they can quit panting; they are made for this weather. The hogs were warm and dry in their straw and shelter this morning and were happy to get their warm, fermented, non-GMO feed. All of the sheep were up and happy to get their morning hay, as were the beef cows. The milk cows were in their milk barn curled up as tight as they could be when we woke up this morning and quickly got up and started munching on their morning hay. The farmers, on the other hand, were moving a bit slower in all of the cold-weather gear! As we refilled the sheep water, it was freezing as soon as it hit the air...so we kept the end of the hose under the water to fill their trough. It took us at least twice as long to finish the rounds this morning. I hope everyone is warm and safe during this extreme weather.
Merry Christmas!
Rich and Shelley
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