Seven Things to Love About Winter on the HiLine

Sometimes we all get the winter blahs, but I actually really like winter on the whole. For those who are a little skeptical about winter and all that it entails, I made a list of seven things I love about winter on the HiLine. Some of them aren’t even HiLine or farm specific, so maybe at least one of them is something you could relate to or adapt to your life wherever you live. 

So, in no particular order, here are my Seven Things to Love about Winter on the HiLine:

1. Less Traffic (Yes, I’m serious!)  I know that seems laughable in as sparsely populated a place as where I live, but I’ve become quite accustomed to interstate-free driving on my morning commutes. In fact, this time of year I hardly ever even see another car at all between my house and town (23 miles away) when I leave at 7:00 a.m.  This is not always true. In the spring and summer, a person has to dodge large farm implements and grain trucks on gravel roads that were created in a time when machinery was much smaller. In hunting season, there’re always out-of-towners who don’t know their way around and are prone to stopping without much warning to scope an animal. In the winter, the roads are free and clear of cars and large vehicles.

Lack of traffic means unadulterated sunset/sunrise views! 

2.  Snow, Snow, Snow!    I love snow. I love the way it looks when it is falling and I love how it covers the land and everything all around just like a blanket. The dichotomy of snow is that it simultaneously obscures and reveals nature.  It covers everything up and muffles sound, but also shows paths animals have taken across it. I also love snow because it leads to…

3.  Winter Recreation  Whether snowshoeing, doing any kind of skiing, or just plain taking a walk on a cool day, I do enjoy being outdoors in the winter. I like the variation snow and winter activities offer in the face of my summer routine of alternating between walking and running.  I like going fast on skis or setting my own path on foot with snowshoes, perhaps contributing to the animal tracks revealed in the snow. It’s nice to mix it up. What’s not to love?

Looking up from the cross-country ski trail.

4. Quality Time with the Hubby  In the summer, there are days when I only see Jeff when it’s time to sleep and that doesn’t hardly count because we’re both asleep!  But in winter time, a farmer’s workday hours, which tend to follow the daylight hours, are much shorter. I actually get to see my husband every day and we even have time to do things together. Cooking dinner together or simply watching TV on the couch with the dog are possible this time of year. I’ll take it when I can.

Deep discussion... 

5. Animal Time Winter is also a nice time to reconnect with the animals on the farm. After all, this is when they need us most to provide food for them on a nearly daily basis. Regrettably, I haven’t had as much contact with the cows this year as I seem to have had in past winters. If you read my post from a few posts back, you know this is a situation I’m hoping to rectify.

I love how she's looking at me sideways like only cows do.
Also, she has only one horn.

6. Yummy Winter Food  Winter is the time for stews, soups, casseroles, and crock pot dishes. I enjoy the challenge of taking traditional recipes for hearty dishes and finding ways to make them a bit healthier.  There’s also absolutely nothing like coming in from a day of outdoor winter fun and sitting down to a bowl of hot soup.  I tried a new recipe recently for a simple, classic beef stew that I adapted from a recent issue of Cooking Light to use canned beef and some other ingredients I had on hand.If you're lucky, I’ll share that recipe in an upcoming post, so stay tuned for that!  

Ok so this isn't a photo of beef stew or hearty winter food... but it is a photo of hearty winter beer! yum.

7. “Cold is a Form of Apology,” is a line from a recent episode of The News from Lake Wobegon on A Prairie Home Companion,as told by Garrison Keillor. First off, let me just say that the slower pace of winter allows for much more frequent opportunity to listen to the show.  Second, I love how he always ties “The News” into what is happening with the weather, and really, Minnesota’s weather is not typically so different from ours here in Montana.  Anyway, the point of the line “Cold is a Form of Apology” was that it is so much easier to forgive people when the weather is confoundingly cold outside.  I suppose a cynic might change the line to, “Cold is a Form of Excuse,” but I agree with Mr. Keillor.  Sometimes the cold weather makes us all a bit more understanding and considerate of each other.  In the winter, we are bookended by holidays that celebrate love and family. All of these holidays are over-commercialized.  Maybe it would be just as good to simply celebrate the cold and appreciate what we have. 

View from the summit at Whitefish Mountain Ski Resort

From Barley to Beer

It's always nice to see the end result of hard work.  Or, in this case, to taste it!

Last Friday, while at the brew fest in Bozeman, Jeff sampled some beer from Red Lodge Ales.  Red Lodge Ales is a Montana microbrewery located in Red Lodge, MT.  Their beer is pretty good, and who doesn't love a beer that's at least pretty good?  But what we noticed about the man who served Jeff his sample was the Malteurop logo on the shirt he wore under his lederhosen.

Malteurop is the world's third largest malt barley processor and distributor.  They have three malting facilities in the United States, located in Wisconsin, Minnesota, and Great Falls, MT.  Barley farmers who raise malt-quality barley crop can sell their barley to Malteurop, who processes the barley into malt at their facilities.  Then, Malteurop sells the malt to brewers all around the world.

Malteurop also sells malt to small, local brewers... like Red Lodge Ales.  According to their website, they take pride in locating their malting facilities in prime barley farming areas, and selling to local brewers, thereby reducing the environmental impact of transportation.

For the past seven years or so, Tom has contracted his barley to Malteurop.  So, our barley is taken to the plant in Great Falls, where it is processed into malt, then sold to beer companies from Coors to Red Lodge Ales.  Next time you drink a Coors or a Bent Nail IPA, think of us, and raise your glass!