Winter breaks my heart

This is a story of disenchantment, of love lost and betrayal. All spring, summer and fall, living here in Iowa has been an adventure, a whole new strange world to explore and understand. Humidity, ooh wow! Tornadoes, oh my! Experiencing our first full winter has made us like astronauts; this new planet called Iowa is so different from the old world. We have loved the snow, the blizzard was exciting, and learning how to drive on these icy roads has been... energizing, certainly requiring all of our focus at times. We could almost pass for natives now, below freezing is no big deal. Heck, even 10 degrees with no wind blowing isn't bad at all! But our (MY) naive feeling of wonder and awe came to a sudden, bruising end- literally.

Monday night, I was taking Monster on his usual evening "g-fer" (translation: go for a walk). A large douse of freezing rain last weekend had made things very icy. There was easily 1/4 inch of ice on everything, the snow, the sidewalks, the cars, everywhere. It can take 30 minutes to thaw out the windows on our van, and it's even slippery walking on top of the snow at the park because of the thick crust of ice on top. I'd gotten a little bit of practice walking on the ice over the weekend, so I figured as long as I went slowly, and Apollo didn't pull his leash too much we'd be fine. Apollo actually does very well on his leash in the ice. Every time I start to lose my balance, he stops and looks back to make sure I'm alright. So Monday night, we made it all 2 blocks over to the park, and we headed back home. That's when I fell- hard. Right on my butt in the middle of the street, I had slipped on the ice trying to move over to the side of the road to give a passing car more room. I yowled something fierce! Snow pants look a LOT more cushy than they actually are!

I rolled over on my hand and knees, yelling my pain and frustration into the night. Getting up was s l o w. Waddling painfully back home I decided it wasn't a good idea for me to do any more g-fers until I got some spikes for my boots! We made it home, and I took some Aleve, and tossed and turned all night, trying not to sleep on my butt.

Today, Wednessday, I feel almost entirely recovered, though sometimes standing up and squatting down cause a twinge. I took Apollo to the Paw Park this morning and one of the other owners was talking up some kind of ice kleats his wife bought him- and he was certianly the only one showing any confidence walking around the slippery paw park- even the mutts slipp and slide, nail marks grazing the surface as a reminder of the trecherous terrain. So on our way home we made a stop into Scheels to pick up those same kleats- or whatever you call them. Now I am armed and ready for the next g-fer.

For now though, I'm still grumpy. Maybe I just need to wear my kleats a lot over the next few days- get my confidence back. Then I might be able to enjoy the next 4 months of winter weather we still have ahead of us.