Sunny Monday

I'm midway through a two-week trip home. North Dakota is home, mine and this guy's (left), though for now I'm just a visitor. It's been bitterly cold the past week, barely getting above 0 (degrees F) most days. But today it warmed up a bit, to the 20s and it's sunny outside, so bright with the snow I had to wear sunglasses. I piled on some sweaters and insulated overalls, a Carhart coat, mittens and packs and my dad and I blasted over to the barn on the snowmobile with the dog hot on our trail. The two-year-olds didn't hang around for long after we arrived. They sniffed the air and half ran down the hill despite my attempt to hide behind my dad as we approached the corrals. The other half soon followed, wary of my unfamiliar scent. The furry bunch seemed bigger than I remembered last year's being, with sharp black fully curved horns and thick brown coats. The youngsters, warm in the hay stuffed barn were more curious. They cautiously made way for my dad as he followed the south wall of the barn to check the water tank, softly and reassuringly emitting buffalo grunts. Shortly they settled down and turned their curiosity to me and my clicking camera poked through the steel tube barn gates. Photogenic little fellas.