Sometimes you find a treat you don’t really deserve! About 10 minutes after leaving home for our morning walk, Juma and I arrived at the trail. Actually, he was there ahead of me, as always, waiting just inside the gate to confirm we were turning left, rather than right and across the road.
I believe this area is probably suffering drought conditions as we have had little or no rain, or snow, for weeks now. But after a light dusting of snow overnight there was a beautiful, pristine white trail of about a mile for our walk, no more than 2 or 3 cm, just deep enough to celebrate being the first to walk on it. The only problem was knowing that once Juma and I set off it would be completely spoiled for anyone who followed us, but no real regrets for doing just that.
The temperature was reading -9, cold enough for me to think of a short rather than long walk. Trouble is, in all his 10 years I had never seen Juma showing a single sign that really low temperatures impact him in any way. In fact the opposite, as, however cold it is, he seems to thrive on it and particularly where snow or ice are concerned. He’ll chase sticks up and down the trail non-stop and even break through thin ice to do the same in the quarry.
In deference to Juma's age, I have stopped letting him swim in an icy quarry until it turns a bit warmer, but as long as he keeps running and chasing his stick and as long as the tips of his ears stay warm, I don’t believe he is suffering at all from the cold.
So, game on, and off we set for our normal trail walk. All the signs were good, easy walking across the fresh white snow, the brush either side of the trail almost stopping the slight, but bitter breeze, it almost felt spring-like at times.
I walked whilst Juma chased his stick almost halfway along the trail before we came across any other tracks, a rabbit or squirrel or two. A pair of tracks, small coyotes or large foxes? I’m not clever enough to know which, but they did nothing to spoil my pleasure at being the first human to walk it on this special day.
Even when we eventually turned and headed back it couldn’t completely dampen my spirits, despite my boot marks, which now completely spoiled the earlier picture.
Back at the end of the trail, as we stopped to leave Juma’s stick with his collection under the brush, and came back onto the road leading home, I felt a slight tinge of guilt, knowing whichever walker, cyclist or jogger came next would not see that flawless snow, but also such a good feeling, for having just enjoyed such a walk with my friend and companion.
