We are all getting a little bit stir crazy as this winter has been impressively cold so far. When the first snow fell in mid December, I opened the door for the cats to go out as usual in the morning. It was a cold morning and I hadn't ever let them out in snow before. Asha, the braver of the two ran out as fast she could only to run right back in even faster. She hasn't mewed at the door since.
The last couple of days have brought us warm winter weather. Yesterday it reached a nice, balmy 30. We are in winter heaven. Today I opened the door for the cats to go out for the first time in over a month. They both came trotting along quite happily stopping dead in their tracks about a foot before the door. There is no path beyond the door, only a big snow drift from shoveling the walk. In unison, they crept up to it slowly and looked out sniffing the air with anticipation of what was out there.
Neither ever ventured into the snow, they only stood there and sniffed, almost falling over each other, for about five minutes. When I finally shut the door (we are not interested in heating the backyard after all) they ran about the house with the kind of energy burst that only comes from being outside (or sniffing the outdoorsy air). Darting in and out of rooms, leaping high over obstacles. If cats could laugh, ours would have been giggling incessantly.
And this, my non Minnesotan friends, is how we get through the winter. We entertain ourselves with stories of high snow drifts, cats who are afraid of it, and the excitement of a 30 degree day in January. All of which are incredibly amazing things, especially if you haven't been able to go outside comfortably in a month.
xoxx
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