The Quiet Country House

One snowy day in January...

Saturday morning the entire family headed deeper into the hills and woods of winter, to join Sijo's Boy Scout Den for a morning at a Sled Dog Rescue Kennel. This kennel has a mission to let each rescued dog continue to enjoy the sport for which he/she was trained, but to never push a dog beyond his/her limits. Quite a few young boys, and Haiku (the token girl in the bunch) had their first experience driving a team of sled dogs up a little well-groomed trail. Tanka took his ride in the basket of the sled, and delighted the driver (the owner of the kennel) by laughing joyously for the duration of the ride.

We were also lucky enough to meet Noweesh (spelling?) a wild mustang rescued at auction from an unmentionable fate. This shy beauty shares his outdoor living space with a few ewes, a musky ram, and an adorable miniature goat.

Mother Nature provided a deep, drifty, picturesque setting for our Sled Dogging Adventure, which was lovely but made it a difficult drive home. We had planned to go skating on the neighbor's pond in the afternoon, but there didn't seem to be any activity going on there as we drove past. Once we were settled in our warm house, we weren't inclined toward outdoor activity. The boy's sleds lay all day at the bottom of the hill upon which the house sits, getting buried by deeper and deeper snow. In the evening, I feel asleep listening to the wind throw waves of snow against the windows.