Puppy Kisses

Life in northeast Iowa can be treacherous in the winter.  Snow begins to melt and changes to ice. You have to be careful. You have to watch where you are walking. It used to be that my winter walking was limited to the treadmill. However, the addition of a beautiful Goldendoodle puppy to our home last summer has changed my winter walking habits. Unless the wind chills are deeply below zero, we walk.

Yesterday, home at a much earlier time from school than I have been for awhile, I decided Chloe and I would venture out. She jumps up, down and around when she sees me put on my "dog walking" coat. We started on the sidewalks, but many of them were still snowy from Saturday night's snowfall, so we moved to the street.  The streets were mostly snow free...

Chloe loves our walks. She prances ahead of me like a Budweiser Clydesdale.  Looking all around, sniffing for whatever walked before us, she keeps a steady pace, but not one I can't keep up with. Me? I'm just enjoying the fresh air and the free time....

We make our turn for home.

I'm not paying as much attention as I should.

Suddenly, I feel my right heel start to slide out from under me. Chloe must have felt it too, because she stopped directly in front of me, looking up as if asking, "What's going on? Can I help?" A stopped dog, a sliding foot, combined for disaster.

I felt myself flying over the dog. My knees landed first, the my face planted in the icy snow bank on the edge of the street, my rear end stuck up and facing the street. Two thoughts in my head. 

"I hope I didn't break my glasses."  And

"Please, don't let anybody be looking out their window right now!"

Puppy kisses greet me as I slowly push myself up and out of the bank. Everything seems to work. The glasses are in one piece and there is no one outside with a video camera. 

We continue trudging toward home...