Miss Sadie and the Cowboy kept me plenty busy today and we all feel better for it. Sometimes I lose track of the important things. They always remind me. When you’re outdoors with animals, even days that look like this one feel . . . exhilarating. Something close to that anyway. Close enough to count in horseshoes.
Not as cold as it looks - but this was at mid-day
Miss Sadie sniffing the wind next to a sand-covered ice pile
The Cowboy had a bath last night but no brushing. Can you tell?
Just before suppertime we went out again. This is our favorite overlook.
Two walks and Zumba class, all in one day. I feel so virtuous I can hardly stand myself. I might have a tiny dish of ice cream as a reward. Then I must brush the Cowboy.
Posted in: Adventures outdoors, Up North in Michigan
Torch Lake Views 
M
February 22, 2012
Beautiful top photo! Doggies are lovely, too….
Gerry
February 22, 2012
Well I’m glad you liked it. It was more fun to photograph than to walk through, except that the dogs were having such a good time.
shoreacres
February 22, 2012
That top photo is beautiful. It looks like, if the dunes got a little higher and the clouds got a little lower, they might touch.
I didn’t know what Zumba was. Now I do. There are about 124 classes within ten miles of me. Hmmmmm……
Gerry
February 22, 2012
Thank you. Those little ice piles are only about five feet high. Of course, the clouds are pretty darned low, too, so who knows.
I keep promising to take photos at the Chair Zumba class and then I keep not doing it. We are having a wonderful time.
Heather
February 22, 2012
I’m with the others – that top photo is something else 🙂 I went out seeking interesting Torch Lake shots, and instead just drove around. No complaints though, as time spent near Torch is never wasted.
Gerry
February 22, 2012
Sumpin’ else and most likely in a parallel universe.
Agreed as to Torch. Good for the spirit.
Sybil
February 22, 2012
Top photo does look very c-c-cold.
Gerry
February 23, 2012
It was almost that cold.
Molly
February 23, 2012
Ah, just the dose of February I needed. Thank you.
Gerry
February 23, 2012
Somehow I suspect that it was an antidote for homesickness! Although . . . when we had been Away for a long time and I returned to the North Country for the first time, I met the cold with a shock of dismay, and then a rush of joy. Came back to stay. I had forgotten all that until just this little minute.
lynnekovan
February 23, 2012
Lovely shots. Lovely doggies. It’s good to be virtuous, no one else will do it on your behalf!
Gerry
February 23, 2012
Alas, that is true. I discovered it all over again this morning. No one else had brushed out the Cowboy either.
Joss
February 23, 2012
It could be another planet, apart from the sky which looks oh-so familiar. When I’m out on exhilarating walks I often wonder how small furry animals survive in winter landscapes like that. Basically, they have to go underground, where all the bulbs and corms and roots are spending the winter. I love the myth of Persephone; it explains so much.
Gerry
February 23, 2012
They build little trails under the snow, too. When the sun shines the tunnel roofs melt and you can see the mouse tracks back and forth overlaid on each other – a regular mousely highway.
I just finished A.S. Byatt’s Ragnarök, The End of the Gods. It unhinged my imagination. It may be awhile before I think about myths again.
tootlepedal
February 23, 2012
I like the suppertime picture but I am glad it is warmer here.
Gerry
February 23, 2012
Thank you. I’m glad it’s warmer there too. Should help the sore parts. That’s the trouble with cold weather. It’s a misery to the sore parts.
Robin
February 23, 2012
Beautiful photos. That’s one of the immediate results I like about walking and exercise — the virtuous feeling. I usually want to reward that feeling, too.
I keep hearing about Zumba. It sounds like fun. I think I’ll search around and see if there are any classes nearby.
Gerry
February 23, 2012
I really have to do a post about Judith’s chair Zumba class. She does the usual kind, too, in all different levels, but the chair class is special.
Anna
February 23, 2012
Wow! The first photo is absolutely gorgeous! Lovely photos in all. Is that snow? Goodness, we’ve been mainly snowless here. I love snow landscapes photos and there hasn’t been any to photograph here. Enjoy yours! Yes I agree, when you are outdoors with animals, it is exhilarating.
Gerry
February 23, 2012
Thank you Anna. Snow and ice and sand blown over them and more snow and ice on top of that. It’s February. 🙂
(Who knows what it will be like in a week?)
I think it would be nice to have a horse, but my brain says GACK! Are you nuts????
uphilldowndale
February 23, 2012
Cowboy always looks so happy…. I like the un-brushed look, Spud the dog likes the un-brushed look. Today I bought him 30 (yes thirty) tennis balls in a charity shop, all for £3.00 he is in dog heaven
Gerry
February 23, 2012
I can just see Spud with three tennis balls stuffed in his mouth at once. I like the unbrushed look, too, but eventually it turns to the matted, knotted, full of burdock and thorny twigs look and that never ends happy. The Cowboy and I will brush a little at a time every day until we get sick of it, and then we will grit our teeth and finish it all at once, ending with an excellent treat all the way around.
Karma
February 24, 2012
Wow zumba class and two walks! You are very virtuous! I’ve taken zumba and it kicks my butt.
Gerry
February 24, 2012
The nice thing about chair Zumba is that our derrieres are, for the most part, planted firmly on said chairs, safely sequestered from kicks. We do plenty of moving and stretching and rotating, though, and by the end of the hour we know we’ve been working. We also know we’ve had a heckuva good time. I really must take some photos.
Dawn
February 25, 2012
Run Cowboy run! Mom’s got the BRUSH!!!!
Gerry
February 25, 2012
That’s just how he feels about it, too.