A Tale of O

My Lil Guy is quite adventurous. He likes to check out the grand world around him. He sniffs & runs & barks & chases his siblings all around the spacious (to his small size) backyard.
He also likes to go on car rides. When he hears the keys being moved, people gathering things to leave the house, he's right there at the door BEGGING to go out. I mean, BEGGING as if it's his lifeline & he must leave through that door -- to the other world only found by exiting via the 'big people hole'. We don't fall for that cute, furry little face; we know he's just trying to get his way.

With the snow covering the ground (& him), he wasn't as inclined to go out & about -- through either front or back door. One day we happened to be outside digging the driveway out from under its white blanket and we let Lil Guy out with us. After all, he couldn't get too far. He had a ball boucing in the footprints we'd made; hopping through the snow mounds like a teeny little gazette - everso graceful with the flakes of snow sticking to his nose.

After a while he tired of the constraints the snow was causing on his adventurous nature and wanted to go inside. Or was it b/c we were tired of making sure he didn't make a quick dash into the neighbor's yard???

A few days later I was going to get something out of my car & he was waiting by the door. Well, i guess I wasn't fast enough --- he slipped right by & out the door. No problem, I thought. There's still snow everywhere out there! It's freezing! And it's dark too! Where's would he really go?

Well... perhaps I should have asked "where wouldn't he go?"!!! As I slowly made my way down the slick steps, he'd made his way down the street! I walked down the driveway, calling his name. He was nowhere to be found. It became apparent that he wasn't going to come to me with a simple calling of the name.

I came to a crossroads.

No, he wasn't there waiting for me.

Crossroads = do I go in & get a flashlight or try to find him in the dark?

Hmph. Neither.

I'll call Cop'er. So what if he wasn't there & 10 miles from the house working an off-duty job. I pull out my cell & call him up... "O RAN AWAY & I CAN'T FIND HIM!!!!!!!!!!"

Cop'er: What? Are you serious?

Me: YES!!!!!

Cop'er: Why did you let him out?

Me: I DIDN'T! HE SNUCK PAST ME!

Cop'er: Well, just call his name.

Me: HE WON'T COME!!! HE'S GONE! THERE'S NOTHING BUT DARKNESS & HUGE PILES OF SNOW!

Cop'er: What do you want me to do about it?

Me: I DON'T KNOW!

Cop'er: You shouldn't have let him out...

Me: [click] *thinking -- I don't have time for the blame game--my pup is lost in the big city!*

Back at the crossroads (still no pup). Flashlight or walking through the dark, snowy streets of my 'hood. Ok, I'm going in for the flashlight. Maybe a coat too. Possibly some gloves & a scarf (I said it was cold!).

Back out with the flashlight... down the driveway. Uh oh. Another crossroads - go left, go right. Think like the Lil Guy. Which way would he go?

I picked right. Walking down the street with my flashlight, which, by the way, isn't lighting much!

"ORION!!!!"

"WHERE'S MAMA'S BABY????"

"OOOOOOO!"

"COME 'ERE, O!!!!"

Nothing. No little tags jingling. No sounds of small paws digging out of the snow (I had visions of him falling into one of those deep piles of snow on the side of the road. He might have frozen instantly!).

Ok. I can't find him. My mind starts wondering what to do next. Calm down. Just go inside & find a good picture of him & we'll make some 'Lost Lil Guy' flyers and post them up around the neighborhood.

I wonder how much Cop'er would let me put for the reward. How much is our 'child's' return worth to him?

Perhaps I should say 'how much is your wife's happiness worth to you?'... I think that's a more effective (& realistic!) way to word it!

Then I start to really think about it and come to the conclusion that no one is going to find that cutey pie & give him back willingly. I might have to get Cop'er to bring the law down on them!

As I am plotting how to retrieve my pup from his new home, I turn the corner of the next street moving the [very wimpy] flashlight beam into the darkness that swallowed Lil Guy up.

"ORION!!!!"

"WHERE'S MAMA'S BABY????"

"OOOOOOO!"

"COME 'ERE, O!!!!"

WAIT.

What was that? I saw something move (yes, at this point, it could have totally been my imagination).

AHA! There he is!!!! He was actually walking up someone's driveway, sniffing along the way.

I crouch down to his level (sorta) & call him. He stops. Looks at me. Smiles (no lie). Starts running my way.

YEAH!!! Here he comes!!! Come on, boy!!!

There he goes. Right past me. What a tease.

Oh & looky there... a car coming too! Great. How are they going to see this Lil Guy amongst the huge snow piles??? I start flashing my light so they see me & the pup. The car slows. Lil Guy keeps on walking down the street like he's large & in charge. As the car turns down the street we were just on, I hear the driver yell out his window "My dog does that all the time!".

Great. Maybe that's where mine learned it! (Geez. Will this night ever end?)

Me, the dutiful mother, still following behind him with the hopes he's going to get tired & realize we are passing the house --- in the other direction now.

HiHo HiHo... still toolin' down the street, checking things out, just not slow enough to get caught.

OH!!!! FUN!!!! Another car coming TOWARD us. I'm flashing the light again. Walking in the middle of their lane. They stop. When I finally walk passed their car, they're laughing.

Nice! Hahaha to you too!

Lil Guy is still a good ways ahead of me. I don't know if I am going to be able to catch this little mongrel! Now he's walked up someone's driveway again - looking back over his shoulder to see how much distance he'd put between us.

He's at the sidewalk now... Great. What's next? Will he be going to the porch & ringing the doorbell? Sure, I'm sure they have some nice kibble & a warm bed for you!

And just when i think he's going to make another path to avoid slippery capture... he stops. Hmmmm... well, what do we have here?

A scent?

A special treat?

A bigger dog? (Though I don't think this would have stopped him)

A cat?

No... it's the end of the sidewalk. It's snow. Snow that no one had walked through. Snow that was still as high as he was tall.

Thank heavens! I nab the little devil & tell him he better not do that again. I don't know that he understood b/c as soon as we got home & closed the front door, he was there begging to go out again.

Since then I'd like to say he hasn't gotten out... he has. This time it was with Cop'er & he 'chased' (down very icy streets, but in the daylight) Lil Guy a few blocks down the road until a neighbor caught him. I think it's safe to say after that episode, Cop'er knew exactly what I felt like when I called to tell him O got out.

I watched from the window.

Tricks of the Trade

As part of the ongoing completion of the New Year's Resolution, I am trying to learn new Photoshop tricks. I'm hoping to take my photos to a 'new level'. I watched a few tutorials online, but I am not all that sure of how this newly acquired knowledge is going to be put to use. I have tried out a few things... here are the results:

Not too shabby for a few 'tricks'...

A Few Shots from Snowhell

It's no surprise to some of you that I don't like the snow. I long for days with the windows down & the wind in my hair as I drive wherever I want just because I feel like it. Obviously, that's not going to happen in recent weather we've had.

Here are a few images from Snowhell 2010.

ABOVE: Lil Guy during the 2nd snowfall. He's looking a little like a full-fledged snowdog!

An interesting view of the headlight on my car melting the snow.








The snow through the trees in our backyard













A view of our house from the front

It looks like we have our own skating rink... the pool may never be the same!

A view from the comfort of my house, looking outside during a blizzard like moment (3rd snow)

I'll leave you with this pic. I happen to love this shot of Lil Guy... He's obviously planning his next escape down the street. If he's heading to the Caribbean, I'm likely to follow!

An Odd Sense of Deja Vu

I love to see the beautiful white blanket of snow on the ground as much as the next person… but I have to draw the line at back-to-back weekend storms that bring so much snow I have to shovel out.

Again, I can’t deny the unspeakable beauty and peace that comes over the world when it’s covered in flake after flake of little white crystals from the sky.

But back to the “enough is enough”… I have a friend who doesn’t understand what all the complaining is about. After all, Richmond isn’t located in an area that is sure to NEVER receive snowfall. And to him I say, there are several reasons I’m no likin’ the repetitive snowfall right now.

1) I DID have plans for this weekend. With the snowfall, they have been postponed. I have been looking forward to this weekend for about a month now. Couldn’t the snow have waiting till next weekend? Give me a break???

2) As you know, we have 3 small (or short, however you view it) dogs. They don’t like have their private parts chilled when they go out to potty. While the pee hut has helped with those quick trips outside, it doesn’t do anything for the dog that’s a little shy about having everyone watching while he does his business. Let’s face it, the pee hut might be a little cramped for those “private moments."

3) We’ll have to shovel out of the driveway again this weekend… you know, because we don’t have anything else to do with our Sunday. What makes it worse is knowing we have to shovel out – to go to work!!! Come on! If we are going to waste the day doing something like that, at least it could be for a better reason!

I also don’t know how many people have this experience – the more you are in the house, the more you tend to eat. Now, I have to admit that I haven’t been too bad about this personally, but I feel for those friends with kids who can’t expend their energies outside! I imagine their food bills are a little ‘off’ right now!

I have looked ahead to the forecast for the coming week… it’s not pretty. They are calling for some sort of wintery mix on Tuesday.

Another site that’s pretty popular right now in Richmond is http://www.wxrisk.com/. This is a private forecasting firm that specializes in providing forecasts for business & industry concerns. He wasn’t too far off in what happened with this storm & he was right on with the 2 before this—even contradicting the TV forecasters! Currently, he’s predicting another BIG ONE for Presidents’ Day… wait for it… WEEKEND!

I’m starting to feel like I should take a winter long nap. Who said hibernating is a bad thing?

The Truth about "Cabin Fever"

Cop'er & i were discussing the whole concept of "cabin fever" after he came downstairs & loudly proclaimed to be "bored." Okay, for one thing, it was 10:15pm... a little late to be worried about that. I mean, what's the likelihood he's going to find something to do & not go to bed in a few hours???

But the most interesting thought was... why are we victims of 'cabin fever' when we KNOW we can't get away (technically, we could, but we don't want to bother with all it entails); on the flip side, days when we don't have to go anyway and CHOOSE to stay inside all day is something different.

Obviously, my scientific explanation is going to be --- it’s all in our heads.

As mi padre liked to say many times when I was younger—there’s nothing wrong with you. It’s all in your head.

I have suffered from the same problem today though. I have been happy staying in & not having to strap on all the warm weather gear one could wear and still move (think Michelin man). Not to mention, it’s always more than that—you have to take those cold wet clothes off & put them somewhere, all the while not tracking snow in the house, causing additional work of cleaning up the melted snow puddles. If you ask me, it’s much better to look than to participate in dealing with it.

We have 3 small dogs & they HATE going out in the rain, so you can imagine what they think of snow. With rain it’s just that wet stuff falling on top of them, stepping in puddles & that smell that emanates from them (wait, maybe that’s MY dislike). With the snow, especially at these depths (10-12”), they get lost—literally. Our smallest, O-town, he’s hidden in this snow. Not only does he shiver like a leaf on a tree, but it’s like he’s in a whiteout. Poor guy.

Before the last big snow we got (around 14-16” in December), I had the brilliant idea to make a ‘pee hut.’ Sure, laugh all you want, but it worked! We pulled an outside table up close to the garage door & covered it with a tarp. It created a cover on the ground with no snow & a shield so the snow wouldn’t blow in. Odd as it looked and as picky as these dogs are, I was thrilled to see the first introduction to it was a success! They went in without any problem, did their business & were ready to come back in & warm up.

With news of this impending snow on the horizon, we decided to replicate the pee hut for another round. Unfortunately, though they are still using the hut, they aren’t as inclined to go outside… I think it has something to do with the 19-degrees it is outside. Hey, can’t say that I blame them. Not sure I want to leave my warm home, go outside with no shoes, coat or hat & squat near the cold ground in 19-degrees either!