Big Snow And Happy, Happy Dogs

It had been a pretty darn easy winter so far, but on December 27th I awoke to find we'd been buried in snow:

I first realized how much snow we'd received when I let the dogs out the back door and discovered that the snow was piled so high against the door that I had to push hard to move it. Then I went out front to shovel:

The snow on my front sidewalk was about two feet deep and more was falling rapidly. I stuck a broom in the snow to illustrate how deep it was:

Inside, I could see snow piled up so high that it covered the bottom part of a window. That's Georgette on top of the water heater. She was keeping a vigil on the accumulating snow:

From the relative safety of my front porch I could see the snow blowing and accumulating. The winds reached 80 miles an hour that day, at times blowing all the snow sideways and feeling like a sandblasting on my face:

But I got the front walkway clean as well as that of my neighbors on either side. Then I went out back to shovel for the dogs. This resulted in their great joy. They don't often get the twin blessings of fresh snow and Dad's presence at the same time. Fergus and Seamus began to play while I snapped photos of their silliness. Wally just had to get out of the way:

A great, joyful wrestling match had begun:

"I'll get you, you big lug!":

"Ha ha! Not so fast there, little buddy!":

But eventually the great play fest ended and we all went indoors to rest and to warm up:

One Final Romp In A Snowy Adirondack Forest

The dogs and I were on our way home from a visit with my sister up at the farm. The threatened blizzard had never arrived so when we got to the high peaks town of Keene, New York, I pulled off the road into my favorite little forest dog walking site:

This time I steered onto a new path through the forest, one we'd never tried before. Daphne and Clover, the two live-wire Papillon puppies, led the way with their usual great enthusiasm:

The snowy Adirondack forest was quiet and beautiful, with the pines and firs and spruce overhead. The beech in the understory were still clinging to their leaves, providing a stunning contrast in colors:

We passed some large boulders which I supposed were glacial erratics, left behind as the glaciers retreated long ago. To the pups, they were just more play things:

The two old Chinese dogs, Wally and Winky, were just as thrilled as the youngsters to be trotting along the snowy trails. They just weren't quite as fast:

Long legged Seamus can run far ahead of us all if he wanted, but being a sociable sort, he seldom does. He likes to be part of the pack, sharing the joy:

Little crooked legged Winky trotted merrily past some large boulders. I've seen X-rays of his legs and it's a wonder he can even walk. He, of course, doesn't know that so is not bothered by what we humans might consider a limitation:

Clover and Daphne latched onto an interesting smell:

And Clover watched to be sure I was coming along. This was a welcome sign because as a young puppy she tended to run ahead without concern for staying with the rest of us. Also, you can see her very large feathered ears, a sign of her excellent breeding:

But it was soon time to return to the car. I got Wally and Winky turned around:

Seamus was happy to go in any direction. It was all a great joy to him:

So our merry little troop traveled back through the forest toward our parked car. Fergus stopped to pee and Seamus, of course, stopped to watch him do it:

It was time to finish the trip back to Albany. The leisurely part of the drive was over and the balance of the the journey would be on a busy highway. This is the last post from my journey north to spend time with my sister: