The last line of Frost's "The Leaf Treader" is:
"Now up to my knee to keep on top of another year of snow."
Having thoroughly shuffled around in Frost's leaves yesterday it was only appropriate that today began another year of snow. At 9:30 am a white veil descended from the mountain in front of us and in a few minutes materialized on our doorstep as whirling flakes of snow. Within the hour the ground was lightly covered.
The Red Chief, who is usually hanging on my legs chuffing and begging to go outside while I brew the morning coffee, sat and looked out the kitchen window with a look of pure disgust on his handsome face. At about 11:30 I held up his harness and called him. This usually brings him running. He could put the harness on alone, if he could only do the buckles. He sticks his head through, puts his feet through and holds his head to the side so I can do up the neck buckle. But this morning he didn't even want the harness on, and refused to help.
When I snapped on his leash he seemed a little more excited but when I opened the door all he needed was one look at the snow. He turned and hightailed it back to his bed in the back, next to the heater. He *hates* snow.
We had to change propane bottles, since the one we've been using since August was down to 3/4 empty. I don't want to run out of propane at 3:00 am, so did the switch while I was still suited up for the aborted walk. Changing bottles involves turning off and then relighting our cranky old furnace. What a fiddly job. We didn't need the heat from the furnace so we let it sit for a while, but it took three tries to finally get it fired back up.
By 1:30 the snow had mostly melted away, so I offered the cat another chance at walkies. He was dubious but jumped out and had a cautious little exploration around the gravel pad. Then he ventured into the grass and found it both cold *and* wet. ICK!!! He turned and hightailed it to the trailer as fast as he could run. He has canceled all outdoor activities until further notice. I guess I can forget making a sled cat of him.
2 comments:
My Cat finds some where to hide on these nasty mornings, they seem to be able to go forever without visiting the old sand box,
However the dogs dont seem to mind what the weather is infact Lucy is in her element when it snows.
It has been raining all day and now all evening.
Sali sure is a wooshy cat if you ask me. Of course our two are too dignified to even consider outdoor adventures. Urban softies.
The word count on the novel writing experiment are ending with just over the daily minimum.
Time for a cup of fennel tea.
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