Snow dog walkingBy Pamela Garner
Dogs do not understand that it might be preferable to stay in the warm on a grey morning.
Gemma, our Airedale, is programmed to go out for a walk first thing regardless of the weather conditions and really badgers me until the walking togs are on.
The effort was worth it, the village looked beautiful, like something out of a picture book. The snow made everything so quiet and hushed.
Tyre tracks wound their way around the green, proof that a brave motorist simply had to go to work. The only foot prints were made by animals.
I followed some muntjac prints round to the Old Church and as I stood to photograph it I wondered how many other people had seen it mantled in snow, looking so peaceful and serene, in the hundreds of years since it has been built. Who were they, what were they like and how hard had their lives been? The scene was timeless.
Over the stiles and into the field it looked like, I imagine, Siberia to look at, grey skies and very bleak. I trudged round the back of Church Farm, Gemma investigated the pond, frozen hard and on into the flower meadow.
Hard work walking but worth every step, arriving home exhausted but exhilarated I felt so glad that I had been forced out for a walk by my enthusiastic walking companion. She will be ready for another tomorrow.