The mercury is sitting at -6 degrees right now, and it's bound to go lower. The high today did not quite reach 1 degree. We are in our coldest stretch of winter so far this year. Actually, it's the coldest stretch of winter I can remember in eight winters of living in our area. The sky is clearing tonight, and there is an even snow cover, and since it's only 6 pm right now, I am betting we'll see -10 at least. I went out to check on the animals, and they all seem to be doing fine. The pigs are snuggling up close together and trying to get as low in the straw bedding as possible. The sheep are wandering around, seemingly unaffected by the cold. They are Icelandics, and have about a 6" layer of wool, so I guess they are ready for it. It's the pigs that worry me. I threw an extra straw bale in with each of the boars, since they don't have anyone to snuggle with.
I remember growing up in the Omaha area, we used to get several weeks at a time when the temperature never saw the north side of zero. Not so here in Colorado. We are not used to consistently frigid temperatures. Fortunately we have modern necessities to assist us, like electricity to power the heated waterers and pump the water, a central wood burning furnace to heat the house, and heated cars and trucks to move us around. I am wondering how well anyone of us would survive if, for example, the electrical grid went down in such cold temperatures. For one, we would not be able to pump water to ourselves or our livestock. The water that is there already would quickly freeze. Our house would be at sub-zero temperatures within a day. Food preparation would be difficult without water.
How reliable is our electric grid? Perhaps it's time to look at a bit of preparedness?
