Just Us Two Out There

It's so cold out, the dew point is below zero. That must be why my nose has been running of late. It's so dried out that my body is opening up the dams to flood the valley.

 

When it's dry like this, any static spark that could be created will be. My dog distrusts me now since each time I've scratched his head or nose, I've zapped him with a small, yet distinctly sounding “crack!” He thinks I hate him now. I've learned to ground myself on the door now or anything metal before I go near him. He also has wild fur, from the static. It looks like I've blow dried him.

 

I still find it surprising how animals can tolerate these cold snaps. I have to bundle up and I still find it a chore just to tolerate the single digit temperatures. My dog, on the other hand, seems oblivious to it. Why the pads on his feet not get frozen while walking on the snow, in the these woods, is still a mystery. The only sign of his being cold, is usually inside my house. He'll be rolled up, nose to ass, like a croissant roll, on top of the three blankets I have for him on the floor.

 

While walking him in the woods tonight, I heard something I haven't heard in a long while. Trees freezing. There was no wind out there at sunset tonight, so it wasn't the limbs banging into one another. I swear it's the wood-sap-water in them contracting. I didn't hear this once but a few times, near and far. Now that I think on it, it sounds just like cracking wood. I wasn't near the river or pond so it wasn't that, though that too can produce some unworldly sounds as it freezes up.

 

I didn't last long out there. The sun had just about set and that weird light was everywhere. I can't describe it except it was a strange, austere blue that was cast on everything. Just looking at it can tell you how damned cold it'll get tonight.

 

As I am deep enough into these woods with this time of day and the biting cold, I can unleash him and let him gallop as he wishes. There will be no one out here he can molest. He'll do a figure “8” around me as I walk along, sniffing everything imaginable, finding whatever under the snow.

 

As I said, I didn't last too long. I felt the skin on my back getting chilly and my hands were starting to sting so I called the dog. His head bolted upright towards me with an anticipating, questioning look. After a second or two he comes bounding back, thinking there's a snack ready. Apparently he wasn't done nor too cold as we got nearer my car. He kept stalling, waiting for me to turn back to have more fun. Nope, I kept going along, making a bee line to my car when it came into sight. He runs up eventually and bounces into the back seat.

Once home, after twenty minute or so, I warm up. He, on the other hand, is on his pile of blankets and will refuse to move for a few hours.