Lucy is a fellow lover of winter and she is a joy to watch on each of our twice-daily walks. Each morning she wakes me with a cold, wet nose, anxious to start the day. I feed her and then she patiently waits while I sip hot water and eat some fruit. If I take too long she reminds me to get back on task by nosing me or putting her paws on my lap. As I dress for the walk, Lucy’s excitement builds and she begins to pace. Finally, I let her out the back door and watch as she leaps and bounds toward the woodshed with incredible grace and boundless joy.

Lucy truly is herself out here in the woods. She is comfortable, confident, respectful of other wildlife and completely aware of every sound, scent and movement. She stays reasonably close and often makes eye contact as a way of ‘checking in’.

Lucy loves to hunt for mice and it doesn’t take her long to dig deep holes in the snow with her large paws while following a scent.
It is amazing how deep she can go…!!!

I always love the moment when she pops her head back out.

Of course, like most dogs, she also loves rolling in the snow, picking up the scent of whatever was left behind by some other animal. I tease her and tell her that she’s ‘putting on her perfume’. Usually she smells quite sweet and clean when she rolls in the snow, but once in a while she’ll roll in something raunchy (like a dead frog in summer or coyote scat) and then I’m a little more reluctant to cuddle with her later!

Ahhhh…. pure ecstasy.. She actually acts drunk whenever she does this.

If I had to describe Lucy in one word, it would be ‘jaunty’. This next photo completely captures this in her…

During and after the walk, Lucy often tends to the ice balls that form in her large, beautiful paws.

And finally, home again. Lucy spends the rest of the morning on the front deck, snoozing, following the sun, and watching the world go by.