April 06, 2003
The icestorm:
1) Dusty stands next to a small dog-pee-ice-rink
2) Watching my dog attempt to walk on this stuff is nothing short of amusing
3) What she's walking on: solid ice and yes, those *are* ice shards
1:00 p.m.
At least the sun is shining today. I went out to lunch with a friend yesterday and she told me that she's planning to move to Florida or Washington D.C. Florida I can sort of understand, but D.C.? That speaks of true desperation (and before I get flamed by all the Washingtonians, please understand that I lived there for six years and love the place with all my heart. Really.)
I've stopped venturing into the yard except in emergencies. An emergency is defined as: the dog won't relieve herself near the sidewalk and it's been *hours*. At least her spinchter muscles are being put to the test.
As it is, the yard is beginning to resemble and work of modern art. A field of white with various, randomly-placed (well, okay, she's a *dog* - it's never random) yellow blotches. When Dusty pees on this ice, it freezes in place, like a little urine ice rink. Charming.
I can't believe it's April.
6:00 p.m.
The sunshine really makes a difference.
It's still cold out, but the sky is a deep, gorgeous blue and the ice is melting. I tromped around the front yard, scuffling up mounds of snow to roughen the ground (so when it freezes again tonight, I'll be able to walk around without killing myself). More crazy behaviour for my neighbours to scratch their heads at!
Dusty and I went to the park for about an hour-and-a-half in the early afternoon. We ran and played, walked around and did 'sit-stays' with an audience (a man and his daughter at the playground). Despite the distractions, Dusty did well.
We went out again in the late afternoon. Dusty played with some small dogs and practised a few 'sit-stays' with mega-distractions (people walking by, other dogs walking up to see what we were doing). Again, she did well, but having another dog right in her face was simply too much.
She's sleeping right now, but I'm going to take her out one more time. Another storm is moving in from Colorado tomorrow and we'll be getting more snow. The ice storm was also from Colorado. I guess Colorado is getting revenge for all of those 'Canadian air masses' we've sent their way.
Daylight savings time started today, so it's still light out. This morning, I listened to the song birds, while shivering in my winter coat and trying not to slip on the ice. This is truly a very strange spring!