After being sick with a nasty bug for what seemed an eternity, I finally made it out to enjoy one of my favorite sports –  cross-country skiing! Of course, Charlie wanted to come along too.  At first, she was so excited with anticipation, all she would do was pounce at the skis. That makes it a bit hard to “slide and glide,” but she finally settled down and set off bounding towards the timber!

She was headed in the opposite direction of these deer so she didn’t see them. At first, the deer were totally engrossed in trying to find something yummy to eat and were oblivious to her presence. 

Then they heard Charlie scampering off in the timber and stood transfixed, closely watching her antics in the snow, leery of her changing course and coming back in their direction.   

Those of you that cross-country ski, know how quiet and serene the experience is. The almost noiseless, soft gliding whoosh of the skis over the snow is extremely soothing and peaceful. However, it wasn’t quiet enough to keep the deer from hearing me. This one watched intently for a second before they all took off bounding over logs and our fence, effortlessly clearing it by a good two feet!

A little squirrel, busy digging up his cache of nuts and seeds, took one look at the dog and sprang for the nearest tree scrambling up to the tippy-top, well out of the dogs reach while loudly scolding his displeasure over our intrusion. 

Abby’s stubby little legs were useless as she wallowed in the deep snow. She wisely decided to head back to the house and take lookout point on the top step of the porch.

Charlie, in contrast, was in her “happy spot” following the scent trails left by each wildlife creature while sporting her golden retriever smile. 

She occasionally saw a few of the creatures and had to make the choice whether to give chase or stay close with me. Most of the time, she chose to stay right by me.

At times, she would get really close with those gentle, loving eyes eagerly imploring me to get going faster!

I skied, breathing in the cool, refreshing air, replacing any residual “sick” bugs, with a healing, cleansing, energizing, cross-country skiers “high.” The setting sun was just barely above the horizon, when reluctantly I turned my skis towards home and the end of our too-short winter playtime.