The promised warm weather didn't show up, though it is a lot pleasanter than it has been. It doesn't look as if we are going to get the three feet of snow we have been hoping for, so we might as well get rid of the snow and hope for rain.

Ken and Judy Levick were at the Cove tonight; they came over on snowmobiles and say the trails are quite good. There haven't been as many machines around this past week as we expected, so the trails haven't been chopped up.

Last Monday, a rough-looking moose wandered down the lake path, past our yard, and into Adams' yard. Helen said it came right up to her window, and then ambled down onto the lake. Jenny and I walked out onto the lake to see where it went to; I guess it found the wind harsh, because it went east a ways then back into the cottage subdivision.

I was surprised to find the snow crusted enough to support my weight, even where there was no snowmobile trail. The warm weather followed by strong winds really packed it.

We saw our first crows on Tuesday, four of them. Others reported seeing some, a day or two earlier, in about the same place; now they are all over the place. Also seen by two people at different times on one of those warm days: a single duck on a puddle. Some have seen geese flying around, but only one or two. The scouts, I suspect.

Next day, there was a pair of crows cawing around in the trees north of our house, so I suspect they are thinking of setting up housekeeping in our neighbor's spruce trees. They did that last year, and for almost a month the whole family serenaded us as they tried to teach the young how to get along. Crows are supposed to be smart birds, but I don't know about those young ones!

We really treated ourselves yesterday - we went to Tisdale to watch the Stock Dog Competitions and the Heavy Horse Pull, neither of which we had seen before. The stock dogs were first; most of them were fairly small black and white dogs, possibly border collies or Australian sheep dogs. Each dog and its handler had to maneuver three sheep around an unmarked course, through a chute, and into a small corral. The handler is not supposed to touch the sheep except at one point, when the dog has to maneuver them within reach of the handler's baton. They must have been tempted to deliver the odd kick, though. I don't think sheep are that dumb - I think they just act that way to aggravate dogs and people! In real life, what they did would be less challenging, as they would have fences on two sides as they drive the sheep into either chute or corral. Out in the wide-open arena, though, they don't have that advantage. What an incredibly useful asset a good stock dog must be to a stockman!

The heavy horse pull was a thrill. Weights are added to a flat-bottomed sled, and the teams have to pull the sled at least fourteen feet. Each round, another 500 lbs. is added to the sled. When a team cannot make the fourteen feet, it drops out. Teams were all the way from 2,500 lbs. to 3,900 lbs. When the weight got to 5,000 lbs., the last of the lightweight teams was eliminated; at 6,000 lbs. the medium weights and most of the heavy weights dropped out. There were only two teams left when the weight went to 6,500 lbs.; the first team couldn't handle it, and the winner handled it nicely.

Each team is allowed three tries to move the sled fourteen feet. Some teamsters used the three tries, but others dropped out after just one or two tries. I suspect they knew their horses' capabilities and didn't want to chance hurting them.

Those beautiful beasts come prancing into the arena, heads up, eyes bright and trace chains jingling; they pull their hearts out, then go back to the rail, where they stand with heads to the wall showing not the slightest interest in what is going on about them. I suspect a horse is never really tamed; it can be trained to do certain things but there is no emotional tie with its master, as there is between a dog and its master. I'll bet a hundred horsy types take strong exception to that statement!