Will and Emma, our border collies

Sunday, January 30, 2011

Snow, Snow and more snow

We have had record snowfalls here in the Hartford area this month. We have had the biggest one day total and the most snow in the month of January since records have been kept. That is, we've had a total of 45 inches so far in January, and the average is only 12 inches! And we're supposed to have another 12 inches on Wednesday. Everyone was out this weekend shoveling or raking the snow off their roof, and breaking off the giant icicles that have formed from all the warming and cooling. Some houses have icicles almost down to the ground! I'd hate to be under that if it ever fell. There have been reports of roof collapse around the state, and everyone is hoping to avoid that disaster. Another foot of snow piled on what we already have on the roof is a disaster waiting to happen.

The dogs are enjoying the snow, but it's hard for them to move around in it. They try to walk in the yard and one step into it, they are up to their armpits (or is it leg pits?) in snow. Will tries to run across it, but then sinks and can hardly move along in it. We've tried the golf course, but didn't get very far and decided to play in one place with the frisbee. We've tried our trail through the woods to Tulmeadow Farm, but that was grueling for all of us, dogs included. We dug out our cross country skis last weekend, which haven't seen the light of day in about ten years, I would say, and that worked very nicely. It took us awhile to clean off the dust and grime and old wax, but we got them ready with new wax and off we went to Simsbury Farms golf course. It was the perfect thing to do with the dogs. They ran and played, and we got around much better than if we were trying to walk on the icy snow-covered links. It was quite pleasant, with the rolling hills, and we weren't too sore afterwards. We will definitely do it again. The dogs were really good staying away from the skis. At one point, they got in the tracks behind the skis and kept up on the packed snow. It didn't take long for them to figure out the easy way to get around!