Sunday, January 18, 2009

sophie's winter

January can be a tough month here in Ontario. The holidays are over and winter stretches out before us, cold and gray. And, once again this year, there is a mountain of seemingly never ending snow. As adults, we hear the word snow and tend to think: shoveling requirements, wet and sloppy footwear, bad driving conditions and the cost of gallons of windshield washer fluid.



But on walks with Sophie, I am pulled out of that adult thinking and remember the winters of my younger self: thrilling toboggan runs, ice skating under a bright February sun and frothy cups of rich hot chocolate. And it's nice, even if only for a couple hours, to see snow through Sophie's eyes and enjoy the fun of winter again....to catch snowflakes on my tongue, make snow angels in a park and watch my dog kicking up powder, leaping in pure joy.


must carry the biggest stick that can be found






a short rest in deep snow

26 comments:

Hilary said...

I know the feeling exactly. Walking a dog wakes up the child in us.

Libby's Library said...

Oh my gosh - I would be worried about loosing her. In that last photo she was neck deep!
I'm so cold from looking at these pics, I need to go get my heating pad.

Anonymous said...

Very cute photos. Like Hilary said, our pets seem to find joy in almost everything we do with them.

gigi said...

That makes me cold just to look at her deep in the snow. Does she ever get stuck?

Barry said...

Perfectly said Andrea, their childlike enthusiasm is infectious and we all need to catch some of that joy.

The photos of Sophie capture the mood exactly. I feel some of the weight of adulthood lifting just looking at them.

Sherri said...

She is just plain gorgeous. We watched a news clip of a dog over at MacDill Air Forse Base who job is to chase the birds away from the landing strips. She was beautiful too and really seemed to love her "job". My husband watched at her and said, "What a magnificent dog."

That's what I feel about Sophie. She is so very beautiful.

Joanne said...

Dogs always find such joy in the snow, they're inspiring just to watch. Sophie's a perfect example!

NKP said...

She looks like she is having so much fun! I have wimpy little dogs. Bella is out for about five minutes before she is crying and limping from cold feet.
Merlin loves to jump around though, they look so happy when they do that.

Raising Addie said...

WOW that is a lot of snow!

Seeing Sophie leap through the snow must be heaven!

Kisses
Addie

betty said...

that was deep snow!! thanks for sharing the snow through Sophie's eyes with us today :)

betty

Katherine Roberts Aucoin said...

Sophie looks like she is having a ball. More than likely I would be out there playings with her too!

laurie said...

she's a lot like riley! he likes to grab the biggest sticks he can find, too. of cousre, in the city we have to keep him on the lead, which means the stick gets all tangled up in the leash and we all fall over.

Rob said...

Too bad we can't all walk together. He and Sopie would have a great time together chasing after sticks through the snow. Yes, a walk through the snow is an amazing gift.

Bruce said...

What fun you have with Sophie. Wish I could play too! My paws might get too cold though cuz I've never seen snow before.

Unknown said...

Sophie looks like she is having so much fun. Wgat a joy to go on a walk with her!

b&g girl said...

what i wanna know is how do they not seem to get tired leaping through the snow like that? coal comes home after a romp like that and runs around the house like he never went out!

uought2b.a.dog said...

That is a lot of snow!!! Great pictures of Sophi, too.

Pam said...

She cracks me up. The bigger the stick the better.

Becky said...

Sophie is having such a great time! Looks like a lotta fun to me. She is a beautiful dog. Wish we had snow in Florida but not quite that much!

T said...

Thanks for stopping by my blog. I am already in love with Sophie. You have a great blog, I hope you don't mind me following.

Tami Weingartner said...

Oh Sophie...you are having a wonderful time! You lucky lucky girl.

Far Side of Fifty said...

That last "resting" photo just cracks me up! :)

DayPhoto said...

What a beautiful dog!

Linda
http://coloradofarmlife.wordpress.com/

gtyyup said...

Great photos of her in the snow...not a care in the world; except for the stick!

pam said...

Have you seen that video on youtube of the dog bounding through the really deep (over it's head) snow?

CTG Ponies said...

Great pics! I have a Border Collie too that we got from a shelter in July. Bandit loves the snow!

I just nominated you for Lemonade - you can see the posting on my blog.