I saw my first snowbow this morning . Wind whipped the loose snow high into the air just after sunrise, and the light filtering through the particles created a vertical ribbon of color. A positive omen.

Omens, chance, superstition: I could use faith in those for this week. The more I read about the dangers goat kids face in subzero weather the more I’m worrying about how to make this go well. We have most supplies in order: the towels, buckets, iodine, BounceBack (a bit like Gatorade), sanitizer, gloves — all the things I said I looked forward to picking up at the pharmacy. What we don’t have we will go without. If the nannies could wait until Sunday when the temperature jumps from zero to 20 degrees, I would be so grateful.

At the suggestion of one of our books, we’re borrowing a baby monitor. All night, we listened in on the goats pawing at the straw and munching grain and hay. Now that it’s below 10 degrees, the receiver seems to be having trouble connecting with the barn monitor; we may be getting up every two hours to check on them instead.

Baby monitors are nothing compared to the lengths some people will go for newborn kids. I’ve read about people bringing their goat kids into the house when the weather is like this. I can just see how the dog and the cat would react to that, let alone what would become of my kitchen floor. Despite my attachment, they are livestock, and livestock belong in the barn.

The wind is carrying snow across the driveway and depositing it in two and three-foot drifts along our trucks and the barns.

I keep reminding myself that I chose to do this, that I’m volunteering to have animals and work this hard. It does seem crazy on a day like this.

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