Snow Day!

After all my haste to get Shakespeare placed before last weekend's transport, it turned out that there wasn't an appropriate foster for me in the 79 dogs and puppies they pulled after all. Every one of the dogs was too big, too small, too young, too energetic, a non-permitted breed (read: pittie), or already had another foster lined up.

Welp. I'm keeping an eye on the listings and hoping maybe something turns up next week, but honestly I'm in no hurry. Pongu and I just got our first-ever Gold spot at the Fenzi Dog Sports Academy -- we'll be doing Obedience Skillbuilding, plus lurking around in Precision Heeling at Bronze -- and since those courses are intense, I don't expect to have a lot of time or attention to spare on a foster for a while anyhow. Not while we're doing that and our regular training-club classes and actively competing in assorted venues.

Plus I got my revision notes back for Super Secret Dragon Age Novel and the turnaround period on that is ultra short (as in: two weeks to revise a 400-page novel), so that has also been a cause for preoccupation lately.

In light of all this, it was actually a welcome respite to get hit with a blizzard yesterday. 14 inches of snow! Last night around 10 pm it was up to the dogs' chests, and that was before it stopped coming down.

So, of course, as soon as I got home from work we went out to explore the fresh-fallen snow. Few things make Dog Mob as happy as fresh, deep snow, and few things make me as happy as watching them delight in it. Cure for all sorts of cynicism, that.

 

We went to the dog park and they romped around over the marks of previous dogs' rompings. Another dog came in and Crookytail was almost too rambunctious for safety -- I came close to pulling him out a couple of times -- so it looks like we're not entirely over that issue yet. He was much better when we went back this afternoon, though.

They played a couple of rounds of "Find It" with treats tossed into the deep drifts.

And then we went to investigate the basketball courts, because the snow there was almost completely untouched and ridiculously deep, so the dogs could practically swim in it if they wanted.

And then we went home because my fingers were starting to get frostbitten.

A day later, there's almost no pristine snow to be found anywhere. It's such a rare and evanescent pleasure in the city. We'll probably be able to find some nice spots today, because the temperature is cold enough to keep a lot of people inside, but by tomorrow I figure it'll pretty much be gone.