[nagdu] Be careful when someone says "you can"--lol

[Debby Phillips]

Dan, I loved it! What a great story! And to think that you ran 
into that guy again! You just never know, right? As for crossing 
streets and other such....

It was 2004.  We had just moved to our house 15 miles out of 
Colville, Washington.  It was early November and we already had 
snow.  My husband and I were returning from town, and I was 
itching to go for a walk.  I had my Golden Retriever Cleo.  She 
was an intrepid soul.  I told Craig when we got to the edge of 
our lane, (which was about a half mile to the house) I told him 
to let me out, I wanted to walk home with Cleo.  He told me that 
it had snowed, and maybe I might want to rethink this particular 
walk.  Oh no, I said, a little snow was no big deal.  So he let 
me out of the pickup and drove away.  The silence was 
magnificent.  There were no cars going by on the county highway, 
and just Cleo and I stood in the snow.  She shook all over, and 
when I picked up her harness handle and said, "Cleo, forward." 
she seemed to be trying to fortify herself.  The first step I 
took found me sinking into knee-high snow.  I pulled my foot out 
of the snow, and began moving forward.  Almost every step I took, 
the snow was knee-high.  It's hard work walking in that kind of 
snow.  We finally arrived at the house, and Cleo and I huddled 
close to the stove the rest of the afternoon.  I have learned 
since then to listen more closely to what my husband says.  I 
sometimes decide that I can walk or do something he is hesitant 
about, and sometimes I'm right, but I do it more with a sense of 
prudence than before.  (Smile).    Debby and superstar Nova P.S.  
Colville is in northern Stevens County, and our house was only 
nine miles, as the crow flies, from the Canadian border.