Sometimes, it's difficult to have a blog that celebrates the wonders of nature. Say, just for example, when the thermostat reads zero degrees Fahrenheit, as it did this morning, and our precious little dog needed her morning walk. It's hard to feel joyful when I'm not quite sure if I can feel the nose on my face because my gloved fingers are frozen, along with the aforementioned nose. Sure, I try to continue the "Up With Nature!" mentality, but my winter outfit looks more like a bankrobber's disguise and the wind is positively howling through my hat.
And then there's Delilah. She looks downright embarrassed to be wearing her little doggie coat, but without it, she shivers pathetically and refuses to do her business out there. Instead, she tugs toward the warm and cozy house. Not that I can blame her; I'm immensely thankful that modern society has evolved from outhouses to indoor plumbing. Dog-tugging struggles aside, walking the dog in freezing-cold weather is our small price to pay for all of the wonderful benefits of living with a dog--most notably, warm cuddles from an incredibly sweet, furry, little creature.
Last week, when the temperatures were a relative heatwave in the 20's, the kids begged to go outside and play in the snow. I thought they'd be back indoors in a flash, pleading for steaming cups of hot cocoa, but no, they stayed outdoors for upwards of an hour, building an igloo together and looking like they always get along famously. (Newsflash: They do not.)
Sometimes, I miss the sense of pure joy (no pun intended) that winter brought with it when I was a child in Connecticut. A whole yardful of snow that was like a gigantic container of white Play-Dough, ready to mold into snowmen, snowdogs, snowforts, snow-you-name-its. Yesterday, as snow began to fall again, my daughter reminded my son to stick out his tongue to catch the flakes. As children see it: What's the point of being out in the snow if you're not savoring it with all five senses?
As much as it's ridiculously frigid right now in the northeastern United States (I'm still not sure how our Canadian friends manage, let alone our Minnesota relatives, who've had school cancelled for the day based on the negative temperatures alone), I still wouldn't trade where I live. I've said it before and I'll say it again: I need the four distinct seasons. I grew up with them and they're a part of me. And now, as I watch my children outdoors--my daughter sitting on the stone wall, scooping a mittened handful of snow into her mouth, my son busy sculpting and chipping away at his own white fortress--I see the winter becoming a part of them as well. Someday, they'll remember playing in the snow when they were small, loving the winter and everything it entails.
As for Delilah, she has her moments of Winter Love, too.
Your turn: Are you a card-carrying member of the Frozen Dogwalkers Society? How do you manage to walk your canine companion when it's freezing outside? Please share in the Comments section below. If you are reading this post via email subscription or mobile device, click on the title or go to www.JoyfullyGreen.com from a computer to see the comments and leave one of your own. (Don't forget to click the box for subscribing to comments so you can follow the conversation.)
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