Attitude and the Cold

 Brandi is our five month old mastiff.  If you are familiar with this giant breed, you know that at this stage in her development she is a lanky pony look alike.  She has a zany fun way of looking at the world.  Everything is new and intriguing, be it Steve putting on his socks or helping him feed the birds.  We laugh constantly at her expressions and, yes, her clumsy mishaps. 

Bojangles is our seven year old Boston Terrier, a true gentleman.   He loves Brandi, and even the cat Smokie Joe.  He is stoic about Smokie putting him in headlocks, he just looks at us with an expression that reads…”Do I really have to put up with this?” as Smokie crawls all over his head.  He plays tug of war with Brandi; of course he loses every time with the fifty pound weight difference.  But Bo is a true wuss, and detests anything cold or wet.  If it is cold or raining, we have to push him outside and stand guard at the door to keep him from doing a u turn right back inside.  Sometimes, yes, we carry him out in the field to save time.   With enough prodding, he will reluctantly venture out far enough to do his business.  Misery is visible in every line of his body and he returns to the door as fast as he can.  He will then scramble onto the couch and cover himself with his blanket.

We got slammed yesterday with snow and cold.  The snow accumulation in our area was only a few inches, but the cold was very real…below zero at night and single digits in the day. 

Yesterday Steve came in from taking the dogs out with a new story.  It seems Brandi did her normal “oh this is sooooo cool!” reaction when she first saw the snow. .  Joyfully she bounced outside, ears, lips and tail flying.  She ran in circles, sniffing, tasting, bucking; full of glee at the new adventure. 

 Bo, however, took a few steps before it dawned on him that the ground was covered with the hateful cold stuff.  He immediately tried to return to the warm house.  Steve directed him several times back out into the frozen stuff.  As he was returning from getting the paper, Steve noticed something new…Bo was lying on his stomach in the snow, with all four legs elevated from the ground.  Yes, he was in a Superman Flying Pose in the snow.  Evidently he preferred his stomach and chest in the snow rather than his feet.  Crazy, huh?

It’s all in the attitude.  Brandi and Bo were in the snow for the same amount of time.  Brandi considered it great fun, and had a blast. Her feet were pogo sticks and I’m sure she never thought about, or even felt, the cold snow.   Bo on the other hand started off with a bad attitude and had a thoroughly miserable time.  He came inside with cold feet and a frozen chest and belly.  And he couldn’t understand what we found so funny. 

2010 was a good year for me.  I’m joyful about the new experiences and adventures that have come my way.  And yeah, sometimes it’s been a little cold and uncomfortable.  I guess that is to be expected when you leave all you have known and travel half way across the country to live.  But take a look at me from morning to night and you will see a very happy grin.  I love my life, even if it is six degrees below zero.   My feet don’t get cold because they are too busy dancing.