Spring! (almost) March 13, 2008

Well, not quite. But, it certainly feels like it! The weather has been getting warmer and warmer, and today it was supposed to be around 50. The sun has shrunk the piles of snow, and left mud and water in their wake. Nothing budding on the trees yet, but today feels like the first really nice day at the end of winter. The kind where you use to take off your coat at recess to play with your friends in elementary school.

Still working pretty hard, and trying to keep up with housework. Today we took a break from all of that and went on a family walk. We’d never walked the dogs here in Howard Lake before. They get plenty of exercise running up and down the stairs inside, and being outside on their tie-outs.  Since they are small, and since our house has a lot of space, we don’t walk them each day like we’d have to if we lived in an apartment or if we had bigger dogs. We used to walk them quite a bit in Aberdeen, mostly for our own exercise. But, we moved here at the end of last summer, and it seemed to go from much too hot to wintertime, all at once. And its been that way ever since! Even though our dogs are northern breed dogs, they really hate being outside when it’s cold! In fact, if it is cold out, they often sit on their rear ends in the snow and refuse to walk around.

But, it has at last gotten to the point where we can be outside without coats, and they are excited to be out as well.  So, today we pulled out the harnesses from the closet and took the three of our dogs for a nice walk. Rx had to stay home and have a nap in the kennel, as he has been much too wild and out of control (and also because four dogs is a bit too much to handle in an unfamiliar place). We walked a few blocks around our house, in directions we’d never gone in this town before. It was nice to explore some areas of the town we live in, and great for the dogs to be out with us as well. Of course, they all three came home completely covered in mud. Muddy paws, mud and water on their bellies. Now everyone is resting and relaxing, and we are trying to get our work for the week done so that we can enjoy St Patty’s day weekend with our friends!