Observations while dog walking on a winter's day

1. I don’t walk the same in the winter on snowy, icy sidewalks. I find myself taking babysteps on sidewalks that have not been cleared of snow. Who knows what ice patches lurk beneath that white exterior? Being the savvy dog walker that I am, I let my dogs go first and watch where they slip on the snow. They have four legs to keep themselves upright and balanced compared to my two legged walk and significantly higher distance to fall. I send blessings and gratitude to those home owners who get out and shovel their sidewalks even when there has been just a minute amount of snow!
2. There is a significant amount of doggie doodoo hidden beneath that snow. It seems that dog walkers are not nearly as diligent about picking up after their dogs during the winter as during the summer. It is so easy to kick a little snow over the dark mound to hide it and the societal guilt. As even a 30 degree day will melt that snow when the sun is shining so brilliantly, those dark mounds are exposed in all their generous amounts. It is clear that there will be some very green patches of grass and some very healthy flowers come spring.
3. It is so much clearer in the winter to know what my dogs are sniffing at. Their noses, buried deep within a snowbank sniffing at what clearly was a stopping moment for another dog, come out dusted in white as if they had stuck their noses in a flour bin. The white dusting makes Gabbee and Lillee look as if they are ecru colored rather than white. I am reminded of working at Chico’s and telling women that whites are difficult to match.
4. There is beauty in the bare trees against a blue sky. They look like stained glass windows. The winter exposes those things which are hidden during the summer. Squirrel nests, wasp and hornet nests, and woodpecker holes hiding in the denuded trees are out in the open in these cold days. Winter also hides those things which are exposed during warmer days: the flower beds, the grass, water in the sloughs.
5. The slough is frozen now and the neighborhood children have swept and shoveled the snow away to make a playground for hockey. It is reminiscent of the days before indoor skating rinks...or the abundance of indoor skating rinks...when skates waited by the backdoor for the ice on nearby ponds to be frozen. When a child was bundled up from head to toe to go skating outside. When it meant frozen toes, and red noses, and fingers that couldn’t bend. When there was hot chocolate waiting and scarves, mittens, coats and hats all wet with snow were piled by the back door smelling vaguely like wet dog or wet lamb. The first Olympic training grounds!
6. Gabbee and Lillee come home with their stomachs peppered in black from what their fur attracted as they bounced through the snow. Lillee will spend a great amount of time cleaning that off. Gabbee simply doesn’t bother. It will all fall of when the fur dries. Why spend the energy? Lillee finds her lookout point in the sun in the Florida room and sets out to be clean and watchful at the same time. Gabbee merely waits to see where I will sit and finds her warmth from my body. It is winter in Chicago and this is just about as good as it gets.