The calendar tells us that we’re still three weeks away from the official start of winter yet I’m guessing you saw and perhaps drove through the same precipitation as I did Sunday afternoon, especially if you were north of Bluffton.
I spent a little time on Friday raking the yard and running the lawnmower to bag up the last evidence of autumn. On Sunday, the sleet-snow mix arrived to shield the grass I had mowed just 48 hours earlier.
What can I say … we live in northeast Indiana.
Getting ready for winter used to mean putting my shovel by the garage door, filling up the gas can in case I need to use my snowblower, putting an ice scraper in the trunk, and getting some salt for the driveway and sidewalk.
It took 30 minutes or less every year.
Nowadays, however, it takes a bit longer to get ready for Old Man Winter by doing those same tasks plus a few more.
We have two big furry dogs at home; both top the scales at 100-plus pounds.
Our almost 6-year-old Bernese mountain dog Alicia weighs 110 pounds, and our almost 4-year-old golden retriever Santiago weighs a few pounds more. Both are on a diet at the moment, as both need to drop 10 to 12 pounds — a topic we’ll save for another day.
They both love being outside, and the first snow of the year is always an adventure at the Peeper house.
The pups love to go outdoors every few hours on a normal day; when there is snow, every few hours turns into every few minutes it seems.
Who knew a wet wintery dusting of snow could be so exciting?
My wife snapped a picture of Alicia outside Sunday afternoon in our backyard and accurately captioned it, “The only member of the family excited to see snow today.”
Truer words were never spoken — or in this case, written and posted on social media next to a picture of Alicia sitting in the snow as happy as a clam.
Sunday’s small amount of snow was the catalyst to get ready for the looming arrival of winter — a task that requires a bit more work, as I’m sure any of you with big dogs at home know.
We have put several more mats down around the house where the dogs come in and go out — to try to keep them from slipping and to try to keep the tile as clean as you can with two big dogs.
And this weekend turned into Operation Find Towel. The mission was to round up every old but still usable towel to stockpile for the winter ahead for a second detail: Operation Dry Paw-Coat.
I never imagined how hard it would be to get two big dogs to want to let you dry their paws and coats after frolicking and rolling around in the wet snow.
Perhaps the extra time outside playing in the snow will help them both burn a few more calories to drop some excess weight.
The towels are ready and the mats are down. Additionally, the dog groomer is on speed dial since keeping a Bernese mountain dog clean is about as easy as keeping one of our former presidents off social media.
Perhaps the extra precautions won’t be necessary this winter. An El Niño winter is supposed to characterize this year’s forecast, which means it could be drier for us in northeast Indiana.
Now that’s some good news to hear going into winter, especially for those of us with big dogs at home — pooches who just can’t get enough of the snow.
jdpeeper2@hotmail.com
