Snow by any Other Name Would Still Be.........

Out of the bosom of the Air,

      Out of the cloud-folds of her garments shaken,

Over the woodlands brown and bare,

      Over the harvest-fields forsaken,

            Silent, and soft, and slow

            Descends the snow. - Henry Wadsworth Longfellow

At first we look for snow, it's poetic,  we love when snow blankets the ground on Christmas Eve, but when it goes on and on we start to get a little testy about it.   In general I don't mind it - but I hate the ice.  I hate trying to walk on ice and I hate shoveling it.

On Sunday I thought it would be a great day to take Petey for his first ever walk since the snow started blocking the side walks.  It was warm, the sun was shining and I was antsy.  I have been having problems with my knees so whenever it is snows or is icy I don't walk Petey because he pulls too much sometimes - I don't want to slip and fall and take a chance on hurting myself more.

When I got the harness Petey got so excited - he couldn't contain himself.  I don't think I ever saw him so excited.  Parke helped me get Petey down the porch and to the sidewalk.  Oakley (a cat) was on the porch so that's always an experience in itself and I am having problems stepping down with my knees.

So off we went.  I must say we were both disappointed.  I could not get off the block, the corner at the end of the block was not clear.  There was no path to cross.  I was very surprised considering it is a bus stop for the kids.  I could see that all the corners were clear up ahead so I was really bummed.  I didn't want to take a chance walking on the ice to cross.  I would of went around the block but the path down the street was narrow and Petey and I are wide.

So back we went back pass our house and down Walnut Street for a bit and back.  I would of love to gone farther and I am sure Petey would of to.

A funny thing about snow removal and where I live (the house next to me is half in Catty (Lehigh County) and half in North Catty (Northampton County).  Between the neighbor and I we have 3 cars - we park on Howertown Road.(My mom is out back in the driveway)  When the snow got higher and higher we started piling in back of the neighbor's one car and in front of the neighbor's Daughters car.  I was in the middle.  Yesterday North Catty removed snow on Howertown.  They removed the snow in front of the daughter's car because that is North Catty.  But Catty stopped removing snow on Howertown at Walnut.  So the snowpile at the corner reminds me of the "man without a country"  it's the snowpile without a town, but then......that's another day in Catasauqua.

The Stare Down in Catty

I started telling this story to Parke and he said "Why don't you blog this story, you haven't been blogging?"  What a good idea, that's why I keep him around.

Anyway, the story starts this morning early AM.  I was  going to breakfast with a bunch of bff's from church and I wanted to quickly walk the dog.  We were doing good until Petey started a staring match with a certain large gentleman across the street.

I have learned a lot about dog behavior from Petey's Obedience Classes at Chaar.  Dogs will stare especially at each other.  The first dog that moves determines the type of behavior.  Example, the dog on the one side of where I live came forward with a low growl, she was showing aggression and they started a barking match.  On the other hand last weekend a new dog was visiting on the other side of where I live.  His name was Harley and he was a large 7 month old.  They did the stare down, but Harley went bouncing up the yard which showed playful behavior.  Harley really tired out Petey last week, he ended up napping all night.

But this morning's stare down wasn't friendly, the man didn't move, he just keep staring, and Petey started with a low growl, warning the man to look away, but the man didn't, so Petey started barking, which started me laughing, because you see, the man was blow up Santa.  Yes, Petey was barking at blow up Santa and I couldn't get him to stop.  I had to tell him "leave it"  which is the command to walk away but he was sure that this man meant trouble.  I had my hand over it mouth the one time, but he kept trying to bark. It was muffled by my glove and he cheeks would puff out in effort to make a sound.  I had to pull him for about a half a block until we were away from the Jolly Elf.

Oh poor Santa, I better make sure I have Petey is in his cage Christmas Eve.  I shudder to think what might happen if Santa bent over him to say Merry Christmas.

Oh my, and that's another day in Catasauqua.