“No more,” said Rudy, as he set the pace.
The pace in question could only be described as floundering, and once or twice he seemed lost, searching for a familiar landmark.
Where did it all go?
Not so very long ago, just a few weeks, really, he’d been singing a different tune. “Winter retrospectives can be fun,” he’d opined back then, when occasional patches of ground could still be glimpsed. “Although technically we’re not out of the woods yet.”
Stride is everything.
Truer words were never spoken…
“It’s like Siberia here,” says Rudy now. “With none of the Zhivago romance.”
Trudging…
In over his head, Rudy’s philosophizing has taken a dark turn.
…ever trudging…
“Winter can seem like one long, dark movie theater,” he’s taken to saying. “Empty…waiting for the movie to play.”
…and still I trudge…
“Only it never does. And the concessions stand is closed.”
Will someone please carry me?
With too much time on his hands and no shortage of imagination, it has begun to feel like Lara’s Theme music should kick in every time we step outside.
Cue the music…
We clear it away,
I break new ground.
and it comes back with a vengeance,
We’re in deep.
stretching as far as the eye can see…
I see Moscow.
Still, there is some relief to be found.
An escape hatch?
Snow art to contemplate,
Echoes of the ice palace.
and opportunities for introspection.
Heathcliff, I feel your pain.
But in the end, it still tastes good.
Fluffy.
And that’s something.
Annie Graves . . . travel, home & garden writer 
“I see Moscow”! LOL. That Rudy cracks me up! Can’t wait until I see a subject line from him that says “Rudy* On Spring 2015”!
Date: Fri, 20 Feb 2015 15:13:47 +0000 To: mb_nh@hotmail.com
oh mon ami, l’hiver profonde se étend sur mais nos cœurs continuer à tenir la lumière …. merci Rudy………
Rudy- tell it like it is but with real insight and feeling. We miss u!!! From all of us at cloverhillfarm.
Rudy, Dog of the North. If Rudy read more Jack London and less Pasternak, he’d have a whole new attitude toward winter…maybe.
Then again, he could burrow himself an igloo and take up Inuit throat singing- on a strictly amateur basis.
I feel YOUR pain, Rudy! Although not on my tummy feathers like you do. Poor boy.
“I see Moscow…” How marvelous !!!!…. “snow art contemplation” was my second favorite — Thank you, Rudy, for immortalizing this incredible winter through your poetic mind!
I feel I’ve been sent to the Gulag and that I’ll NEVER see Moscow again. Thank you, Rudy, for giving me hope.
Well put, Rudy! Just keep those little legs moving!
I love this side of Rudy — he is indeed in tune with the season.
Annie, I adored this one! Actually, I adore them all, but this one was a riot to read! I was in hysterics! Not only was the written commentary priceless, but the words embedded in the photos of Rudy’s thoughts were magnificent. My favorites: “I see Moscow” and “Heathcliff, I feel your pain.” And “an escape hatch.” Thank you for this beguiling piece. Now the theme song to Dr. Zhivago is playing in my head!
Oh, I’ve missed our jaunty little philosopher…I’ve worried that his dreamy canine mind went into a deep sleep, but happily, no. Lapping up the fluff…I love it!!! And seeing him up to his elbows and knees, those floppy little ears…..just so cute in the snow!!! Tell him that spring is coming and trotting will be easier. Till then, we await his next jaunt!!! :-}
Hearing Lara’s Thème running through my head.