This morning was one of those mornings. It was snowing. I couldn't get certain teenager out the door, and she missed her bus. We discovered we might have another leak. I had to drive Paloma to school and could only give James a lift part of the way to his bus, leaving him to walk and wait in the snow. When I got home, I only had half the amount of time to get Ronan and his stuff for ski club out of the door. Thermals and long sleeved tops could not be found and had to be fished out of the wash. Then at the last minute Ronan revealed that he cleaned out his locker yesterday, and his school bag was filled with stinky (make you gag stinky) old lunch containers and rotten food. We managed to make it to drop off with the ski equipment and minus the stinky fossilized food. Only to find out that ski club is canceled today due to how freezing cold the afternoon and evening is going to be. All of this before 8:30 AM

Then I took the dog out for a walk. Today we went to Frenchtown Park. It was cold, and my cheeks (whole face) were pink by the time I got back to the car. It’s a quiet snowy wonderland in the cold. The only sounds are the river flowing under the ice, and the songs of the plump winterized birds. My favorite to spot in winter is the cardinal it’s red plumage a shock of color in a monochrome world. We see evidence of other creatures’ footsteps in the snow but never see them in person. Just like that walking in the woods with this furry, floppy eared thing of nature like magic some equilibrium is restored.

With the exception of a heavy downpour, Apollo is excited to walk in any weather. His enthusiasm always overrides any hesitations I have about having to take him out. I am always better for having taken a walk with him. When the winter is feeling wearing, and I’m not sure I can take another weather event and it all feels a bit hard, it’s wonderful to be reminded that nature has no preference. It’s all beautiful, different, new and exciting whatever the weather.

At this time of year when I feel like I'm suffering not so much from seasonal affective disorder and as seasonal effectiveness disorder. My walks with Apollo offers the additional benefit of giving me the feeling I did something good. If nothing else gets accomplished in a day at least, I took the dog out.