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We went off Sunday morning for our usual stroll.
It has been a while since we have shared a picture of our favorite tree in our field.
Its sheer size stuns us no matter how often we see it (and, yes, that is the red team at its base).
And we sat under the tree for a while watching the skiers and snowboarders at Cataloochee Ski.
Ok, ok, it is not almost spring. We have quite a ways to go yet before we are out of winter, but Saturday sure felt wonderful. Sure, the humans enjoyed it, but even we had fun running around and stretching our legs. And riding around in the Jeep with the windows out!
We got up to 51F (10C) Saturday at the house. Considering we barely saw above freezing temperatures for most of January, that felt like a tropical paradise. We went down to Asheville and they had a high of 62F (16C). To give you an idea of how crazy that is, Asheville has had exactly five days with temperatures above 50F (10C) since December 1. They are over 2000 feet (610m) lower in elevation than us, so you can imagine what our weather is like. We haven’t seen 50F since well before Thanksgiving and got our first snowfall on November 5 (later than normal, for the record).
The only problem is that our snow is melting. Nothing is more depressing than melting snow (though the humans are smiling for some weird reason).
Remember our picture of the road to our house a few weeks ago?
Here is the same scene yesterday.
Remember how our driveway looked?
Here is the driveway yesterday.
Remember that mountain of snow at the end of the driveway?
The mountain is shrinking rapidly.
Have no fear, pups, we are promised more before the winter is over. After all, our ski resort closed on April 11 last year – so a lot of winter is still to come! The humans may not agree with us, but cross your paws for more snow. Lots and lots of more snow.
Too bad it is not Halloween.
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The Blue Ridge Parkway section near our house is closed most of the winter.
And we love exploring and playing on the Parkway.
Good thing we have fur wheel drive.
Our section of the Blue Ridge Parkway may be closed (well, at least closed to cars – hikers are welcome) in the winter, but the road is open in many areas and the hiking is beautiful in the winter. You can call 1 828 298 0398 to get current road conditions and closings. Hope to see you on the trail!
We were just quietly sitting in a parking lot minding our own business.
When a car parked beside us and a very curious - and vocal - neighbor made his presence known.
Well, more than one vocal neighbor.
Natasha led the way, but the Entire Herd leaned out of the Jeep to make their acquaintance.
Whoa! Maybe barking is not the best idea.
P.S. – Have no fear. The temperature was around 25F (-4C), so the dogs in the neighboring car were not in any danger (and their humans were just a few feet away). Oh, and The Herd wears seat belts, so there was no escaping the Jeep.
Ok, ok, so it is frozen water. Technicalities!
Have no fear. ”They” are saying we should get another 6 inches (15 cm) or so of fresh snow today. It seems like every day we are getting a least a dusting of snow.
Saturday happened to be pulled pork night at The Herd Annex – The hu-grandmom’s house. Does anyone want to take a bet whether The Annex thought the pork smelled good?
Tartok - Hey, watch the lip smacking, Ruby. That pork is mine.
Besides, I have some drooling of my own to do.
Ruby - Is anyone buying the boy's routine?
Woo - Time to obey!
So close, so close. Wait for it.
Lip smacking good.
Exactly what sort of wild beasts make these tracks?
Feel free to click on the picture above so you can see a larger version. We were out walking Sunday morning and ran across some very strange tracks in the snow. We were trying to figure out exactly what sort of wild beast would make a track that is a mix of paw prints in the snow – that sort of look like Siberian Husky tracks – but also has a large dragging mark. We were totally confused and started to send the picture to our blog-o-sphere tracking expert, KB, but then had a theory.
Synchronized Snow Sliding.
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Since a number of you asked after yesterday’s post, yes, the MacBook keyboard is ok after the “Mac & Cheese” incident (Op Pack – you cracked us up with that one). Only one of the keys (the control key – how ironic) was broken and we were able to get a replacement at our local Apple store, Charlotte Street Computers. Repairing the keys themselves is relatively simple as demonstrated in this YouTube video (just in case there is a sudden rash of Cheoah type landings).
Cheoah the Cheesewhiz here.
I need to tell my side of the story.
Mostly I just like to talk. About anything. All of the time.
Something about it is hard to find a picture of me without my mouth running. Whatever.
But this is actually a story about me and Dad's Macbook.
Apparently, it is not built for a certain Cheesewhiz to land on during couch olympics. Who knew?
But at least I was helping hu-dad during the repair process.
See - no harm, no foul. Right, hu-dad?
All of you probably have a Friday night routine. That first night of the weekend, a time to relax from a busy week of work (well, at least for the humans). A time to enjoy to some family time. And, most important, time to enjoy . . .
Natasha - Wait. Do I hear something rustling?
Kodiak - Hey, hu-dad, can I help you get those out? I can be trusted. Honest.
Kiska - Does anybody buy that good boy routine?
Rusty - Hey, sister, don't knock it until you try it. I am the ultimate Good Old Boy.
Cheoah - Bully Stick time!
Qannik - Mumble, mumble, mumble.
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