The Reindeer Ranch Snow Day

Overnight, snow covered the Reindeer Ranch fence.

It covered the practice cones.

It covered the little sign outside the barn so completely that nobody could tell whether it said WELCOME or PLEASE CLOSE THE GATE.

Rowan opened the barn door and found a white wall.

A nose poked through it.

Then two antlers.

Then Dancer.

“Good morning,” he said. “The outdoors is rather full.”

Training was postponed while the keepers cleared the paths.

The young reindeer peered out from their stalls.

“What will we do?” asked Clover.

Moss looked at the soft snow piled beyond the doorway.

“Something snowy?”

Once the keepers had checked a safe play area, the Ranch's snow day began.

First came snow sculptures.

Clover made a snow reindeer with six legs.

“Extra fast,” she explained.

Fern made a snow carrot.

Moss made a mound with ears.

“What is it?” asked Rowan.

“A snow mound with ears.”

“Very accurate.”

Dancer built a beautiful snow sleigh.

Unfortunately, he forgot to leave space to walk around it.

For ten minutes, he stood inside his creation while everyone carefully made him an exit.

Next came the Search for the Missing Blue Bucket.

It had vanished beneath the fresh snow near the fence.

Rowan marked the search area, and the reindeer used their noses to investigate.

Fern discovered a glove.

Clover discovered a second glove.

Moss discovered that putting his whole nose in snow made him sneeze.

Dancer found the bucket immediately.

It was on his head.

“I was keeping my ears out of the wind,” he said.

After lunch, the keepers hung colorful ribbons along a short trail through the cleared paddock.

The reindeer followed it in pairs.

At every ribbon, they found a new surprise: a small hay snack, a brush waiting for a grooming stop, or a funny drawing made by the elves.

The last drawing showed Dancer in his bucket hat.

He studied it.

“The artist has captured my dignity.”

At the far end of the trail stood an enormous snowball.

Behind it stood Bram.

“I was making a snow elf,” he said. “It has grown ambitious.”

The reindeer sniffed the snowball.

Rowan looked at the wide empty patch beside the barn.

“How about a giant snow reindeer?”

Everyone helped.

The keepers shaped the head. Clover fetched branches that had already fallen from a tree. Fern arranged smooth stones for eyes.

Moss contributed two wonderfully uneven ears.

They added a red scarf and stood back.

The snow reindeer was taller than Bram.

“What shall we call it?” Rowan asked.

“Snowy,” said Clover.

“Sir Snowy,” said Dancer.

“Sir Snowy Buckethead,” said Fern.

Bram placed the blue bucket between the branch antlers.

The name was settled.

By evening, the paths were clear. Tomorrow's practice cones stood in neat rows again.

The young reindeer gathered at the barn window.

Outside, Sir Snowy Buckethead watched over the paddock. Snowflakes landed on his scarf. His stone eyes looked pleasantly surprised by everything.

“Will he be here tomorrow?” Moss asked.

“If it stays cold,” Rowan said.

“And if it gets warm?”

“Then we'll have his picture.”

Fern leaned against Clover.

“Can we have another snow day?”

Dancer shook snow from his shoulders.

“Only if someone finds me another hat.”

In the morning, Sir Snowy Buckethead was still there.

So were two smaller snow reindeer beside him.

Nobody knew who had made them during the night.

One wore a paper turnip crown.

The other had a potato for a nose.