Good morning! Can I tell you about my Wednesday night?
Thank you.
Krissy, Charlie and I had just finished a filling Blue Apron dinner.
These enchiladas are making me feel a littttle soft.
A littttle tired.
It’s almost pitch dark outside. 5:45 p.m.
Thank you, Winter.
What to do, what to do?
I look down at my steps, and yep, not what I was hoping for.
To be respectable, I want 1500ish more and I’m not going to get it watching The Office.
I look down at Phoebe. Phoebe looks up at me, “Whaddya got big man?”
(I’m 6 foot, but to a dog, I must look like a giant)
Now or never.
I throw on my puffy gray coat with the broken, but functional zipper and tuck my unmatched plaid scarf into a failed, crowded wool “ascot”. I snag a pair of matching running gloves, click her in and we are off. We open that door and…
SNAP!
YUP!
WOW!
IT IS DEFINITELY Freezing Cold!
You know that line that separates cold from bitter?
We’re one degree on the bitter side then add 10-12 mph wind.
Phoebe did NOT care.
As we escape, she looks back and you can read her mind, “Wow, did NOT think he had the <courage> to go out in THIS!”
She flies down the brick steps and darts left.
I can feel her smiling. It makes me smile.
Within 30 seconds, there’s #1 and there’s #2, bagged, trashed and, hey, this walk may end up short but at least it will be good for something.
She is now silently screaming forward on that black Extend-a-Leash, tail going everywhere.
Oh my G-d this d-g is loving me!
You know despite this mess under my coat, I’m layered pretty well. I yank part of the scarf out and cover my mouth. Not too smooth, but as I look around, the streets are dark and empty save the soft glow of a couple street lamps. No one will see or care that I can’t style winter. Plus, I hear doctors say it’s a good idea
(lungs and heart).
We look far down the street, lightly dusted with snow all the way into the Town Square. A dozen or so trees are still painstakingly lined with soft white lights.
I hope they leave these up through March; they make us happy.
What I believe Phoebe knows, is that on the other side of those lights is a Pet People.
What I also know is that, in five minutes, we will approach the new
Fox in the Snow, opening for the first time this Saturday. If you visit us in Columbus, we’ll bring you there.
We peer through the frosted window to see the owners inside doing a final walkthrough in their old, heavily worn sweatshirts. Their eyes are tired but they have a last minute ‘air’ to their pace.
We grab several recon pictures for our friend group.
A couple minutes later and a few doors to the left we slip into a huge welcoming, warm space with so many colors, friendly voices, smiles and treats.
Lots of treats!
I’m a good girl! (sorry, that’s Phoebe).
Our body temps recover, we make friends, pick out a couple of rawhides and with mild reluctance, open that steel door and head back out into winter.
It’s funny, the cold doesn’t feel as raw walking back. The houses must be blocking the crosswind.
This is actually pretty nice.
Oh yeah, there it is! I love wood burning fireplaces.
With a deep breath, there’s that wonderful, comforting smell. Natural and perfect.
Since we left the store, Phoebe had been politely jumping at my coat pocket. She wins and I’m now firmly holding the thick, pressed rawhide in my left hand. Tail everywhere.
All three times I had relinquished full ownership to her, she dropped it and kept strutting home. I thought poodles were one of the smartest breeds?
She finally does realize the bone will not walk itself home and, very cutely, carries it all the way to our street. She and her bone strut through the front yard, she waits on the door to be unlocked, and carries the bone all the way into the warm, WARM house, sprints upstairs to our bedroom and PLOP on the Big Bed.
Happy Dog.
Happy Dad.
Plus, hey, 1650 more steps.
I love walks.
This was exactly what we needed Wednesday night.
