A Sunny Snowy Hike

I feel better today than yesterday. We will always remember Dexter - he was almost a part of our family. I am sad we couldn't help him, but we will try all the harder to help other animals in need in the future.


The weather was beautiful here today. The sun was shining, the near constant snowfall we've had for about a week stopped yesterday, and the temperature was slightly above freezing today.

We went for a hike on the trail behind our house and the dogs are now exhausted. The trail is also used by snowmobiles so we had to take the dogs off to the side a few times to let the skidoos go by. I waved at every one of them as they drove past us - there must have been about eight in total - and every single one of them waved back at me. That made me happy.


As we were coming back home, we noticed an elderly man with a cane plodding along the path. I immediately felt like a giant wimp. The deep snow is not packed down on the trail - all the snowmobiles churn it up and send it flying, so it was kind of like walking on really loose uneven sand. Our feet sank and slipped with every step. I was a bit tired; we'd been walking on it for an hour and I was carrying Oliver because he'd finally wimped out after snow got into the tops of his little boots.

We approached the man and I noticed he was wearing rubber boots. He also looked to be in his late eighties at least. He stopped to pet Arlo and we chatted about the weather for a moment before continuing on our way. I was sweating and my jacket was unzipped. Every step sank deeply into the messy snow and I was looking forward to getting back to town. I thought about the old man. Would he still be alive if he didn't go pounding about through the snow all winter?

I think I'll try to get onto the trails as much as possible.