[nagdu] A White New Year...

[Julie J]

ROFLOL Yes, I'm laughing!

We had an inch or so of snow yesterday and it was so minor in the grand 
scheme of things that no one shoveled and there were no plows out.  Actually 
I think it improved walking conditions because it made the ice underneath 
less slick.

Monty continues to do well in the snow.  We are such a new team and the snow 
is more than typical this year.  the combination has created some 
challenges, but we're managing.    The snow on the ground is between knee 
and hip deep.   If the sidewalk hasn't been shoveled you aren't going that 
way.  Fortunately almost everyone has been keeping up with snow removal. 
The piles at the corners are getting higher.  Most are two  feet or so right 
now.  If we get another big snowstorm  I'm not sure that Monty will be able 
to see over the piles to determine whether we should climb over or go 
around.  He's a tall dog, but another foot of snow will be over his head.

Julie


----- Original Message ----- 
From: "Tamara Smith-Kinney" <tamara.8024 at comcast.net>
To: "'NAGDU Mailing List,the National Association of Guide Dog Users'" 
<nagdu at nfbnet.org>
Sent: Tuesday, December 29, 2009 5:53 PM
Subject: [nagdu] A White New Year...


Those of you who live with Real Weather will mock me forever for this:



It's snowing here!  We had a skiff by the time my roommate/ride got home to
take me to my appointment.  So I had to cancel!  /lol/  He drices great in
snow, but.  By the time I got done, everybody else would be getting off
work, and there was no way, no how!  Going out on the road with Portland
drivers in the first snow is just asking for trouble!



So he and our guest (slash slave) dashed out into the ½ inch of snow to grab
emergency supplies and get back home before things got *really* bad out
there.  There was an inch (!) by the time they got home.  Oh, no!  We're
snowbound!  /lol/  I'm tempted to pull on my snowboots (designed for
mountain winters with feet of snow and below freezing temperatures) and go
out with Mitzi for snow practice.  Noooo!  The guys scream and threaten to
lock us up.  If somebody tries to drive slowly along in the secluded area
wher ewe would walk..



Yup!  We Portlanders love to complain about our weather.  If it's raining,
if it's clear and mild, if it's clear and cold, if a wind blows..



We are total weather weanies!  Well, here we have a couple of inches, going
on 3, so it's a Real Snow Storm.  We have a movie for the evening, plenty of
food, candles (why they can't just use my spare canes is beyond me), A Plan.
/lol/



I've let Mitzi's curls grow long.  She turns pure white out there while the
snow is falling.  How adorable.  She grins, no doubt thrilled that she's not
roasting in her own coat.  Daisy keeps barking cheerfully (but loudly!) at
the snow out the dining room window.  And the little kid who just moved in
with the grandparents next door who has everybody in the neighborhood out to
play with her in the snow!



Hope you all had happy holiday celebrations, whatever you want to call it.
And here's to 2010!



I *am* going to get my guide dog out to practice in our big, big snow.  But
not until the Portland drivers who don't know how to do snow have crunched
their cars and everybody elses'!  And not until I learn how to "hear" in the
snow!  I walk out into the brilliant white and am in a dreamscape.  Pleasant
in a way, but this year I need to teach my brain to hear under the woolly
hat and the muffled sound.



Best to all!



Tami Smith-Kinney



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