Snowy Sort of Days...

It snowed a lot today. It started right before I got up and hasn’t stopped since then. Driving to work wasn’t too bad because the snow hadn’t been falling that long. Driving home from work was another story but I’m fortunate to live only a short distance away so at least I didn’t have to have white-knuckles for too long.

Unfortunately, the bad weather meant that I couldn’t make it home to the puppies at lunch. I left them uncrated all day because I had a feeling I’d get stuck. I hate not being home to let them outside but I think it’s far better for them to be stuck inside without being stuck in a crate for outside. They were very good, considering the length of time I had to leave them.

Of course, I think they were more perturbed to have been stuck inside all day because they were missing out on the snowfall. Before work, they spent almost the entire time it took me to get ready gallivanting out in the snow. They came in covered with snowflakes and as happy as larks.

Rory, in particular, enjoys snow. For some strange reason, she can often be found rolling in the snow. I’m not just talking a casual roll- I’m talking a full on, writing on the ground with joy and loving every minute of it roll. You can almost see the grin on her face as she does it. Her other favourite hobby is ice chewing. She particularly likes it when I knock the icicles of the roof and toss them away so she can go get them. Generally they’re too heavy to actually carry but she tries. She can also often be found lying on her tummy, contentedly trying to chomp away at a mound of ice on the frozen ground. Sookie enjoys the snow too but in a different way. Being my little huntress, Sookie enjoys the clear landscape for birdhunting that snow provides. Without too many objects to disguise her prey, she enjoys the tease of running up to birds as they land briefly. She hasn’t caught one yet but she’s trying. She’ll bound across the garden from one side to another in order to catch a bird. Of course, when the snow is deep enough, she tends to swim across the garden but she doesn’t seem to mind too much.

The trouble with dachshunds is that they’re low to the ground. This means even with a shallow fall of snow, the undersides of their tummies catch the icy substance and they come inside dripping underneath. There’s nothing that gets you on your toes quite as much as a dachshund who comes in from outside and jumps on your lap, dripping with snow.

Still, I’m pleased that my girls like snow. It means when I go outside, they come with me instead of shivering and quivering inside, afraid of the cold. Instead, they frolic as long as they can outside, come inside to warm up and then proceed to go back out. I tried putting their coats on them but they just get them soaking wet which defeats the purpose.

I enjoy the snow too. I don’t particularly like to drive on it as I’ve mentioned before but once I’m home or when the roads are clear, I find it rather a treat to have the world surrounding me be a blanket of white.

The only part I don’t like is that while kids in snowy areas get snow-days from school, the adults around them still have to go to work. It’s not that I can’t get to work when it’s snowy. It’s more that I want to stay home and pretend I’m snowed in. There’s something wonderfully liberating about not being able to drive far. It forces you to stay inside and do things like puzzles or sewing or cooking or reading. Since I enjoy all these things, snow days are definitely for me. I just don’t get them very often. Actually, unless it snows on a weekend, I don’t really get them at all.

Still, even when I’m not truly stuck inside because of the snow, winter allows us the time to relax and not feel like we have to do very much at all. Or, if we do, it’s not at the busier pace of the other seasons when there’s things to be done outside. Also, the snow is covering my lawn which means for the next few months, it won’t grow which means I won’t be able to mow. Since I dislike mowing rather a lot, this makes me happy.

Ah, snow….I love you! Happy Wednesday.