Neighbors on Ice

Dog in Charge of Alarm Alerts

Neighbors on Ice

Bob the Dog Forgoes Skates

How I Would Look on Ice

The dog-alarm goes off like a barking bomb. It seems too intense for a mere barn cat wandering across the pasture and yet it's Sunday meaning, that it can't be a delivery driver.

Ilya, head-husky of the four-pack of dogs, stands guard at the western window with it's over-looking view of Elmira Pond. Ears pointing forward like furry radar, he is looking at something. Thinking it might be a moose, I grab my camera.

No moose, no marauding cats nor terrorist UPS drivers...just my neighbors on ice. Silly dogs, ice is for skating.

Elmira Pond is slick for sharp skates. Gone are all the drifts of snow, melted away by Pacific Northwest rains that left clumps of ice clinging to grass and ground. It also polished the pond into a mirror of sheet ice. When it was crunchy, I dared to walk upon the pond, but now I stay away and leave the ice to those who can lace up and perform toe-loops.

Their skates cut fine swirls into the ice, etching their afternoon fun. Bob, the family's fluffy black dog trots across the ice, trying to keep pace. You can almost see him digging his toenails into the hard surface to gain better traction. My dogs think they want to go skate, too, like Bob.

One child has taken up the position I'm most familiar with--it's a move called "butt-loops," where the skater turns round and round on the ice in the flat-on-the-butt position. I don't even require ice-skates to manage that maneuver.

Unlike our neighbors north and east, our temperatures are just below freezing (not below zero) and our skies are deep blue (not it's-snowing-again-white). So it is the perfect day for our closest neighbors to enjoy some Sunday Silliness on ice.

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