Remember the little train that could? How about the little dog that could? For once in its life it could jump a fence just like its much larger partner on the farm!
Wyatt is on the short side when it comes to dogs. The other dog on Dave and Janet Bechman's farm, Abby, is a much larger stock-type dog. Normally, she can clear fences in a single bound, or at least that's what it looks like to Wyatt. He can barely get to the second board on the fence.
The big snowstorm that opened 2014 changed all that. When Bechman, West Lafayette, cleaned out his driveway so he could get to work, Wyatt took to playing in the snow. He found that the snow drifts near the pasture fence were so high that he could easily jump over the fence. Bechman could imagine him thinking "Take that, Abby!"
The snowstorm that was a big event in the northern two-thirds of the state, with cold following over most of the state, may have you rethinking your totals for the Indiana Prairie Farmer/Beck's Hybrid winter seed give-away contest.
All you have to do is guess snowfall totals at LaPorte, Whitestown in Boone County and Paoli, and send them in. We'll add up the totals, and the closest to the actual total of all three combined wins. Guess the amount of snow that will fall at these places from December 1 through February 28, 2014. That's the period meteorologists consider to "climatological winter."
Your entry must be postmarked January 15 or be sent by email by 11:59 p.m. EST on January 15. The entry forms are in the December and January issues of Indiana Prairie Farmer magazine, or you can email tbechman@farmprogress.com with your guesses and some other pertinent information.
This is your last chance to decide if the rest of the winter will stay on the nasty side, or if the worst is behind us. We'll be looking for your entry.