It's no secret that I am sentimental and love romance and fluff and all that mushy nonsense.  I love the snow scenes in Doctor Zhivago.  I, for the most part, love winter.  I love having snow on the ground on Christmas Eve and Day.  And once the snow starts, I want it to stick around all winter long – I don't like it when the snow makes a brief appearance and then disappears, leaving mud and dirt in its place.

I have definitely gotten my wish this winter as we have been bombarded with the white stuff.  I love it, what can I say.  I like to catch snowflakes on my tongue as I trudge through over a foot of fluff on my daily walks with Gunny.  Gunny also loves the snow.  He likes to bounce through snowdrifts; all you can see is his little ears, nose and eyes peeking out.  He burrows his nose into the snow and seeks hidden treasures.

Admittedly, it gets very cold outside, sometimes the temperature is below zero and I try and make Gunny wait until it's just a wee bit warmer before we head outdoors.  My ears get very cold and I have been purchasing a succession of hats to try and combat the biting wind and swirling snow.  These hats have been a source of embarrassment for my family.  I originally wore earmuffs but they didn't keep my neck warm.  I added a scarf to my fashionable attire of snow boots, winter coat and gloves.  I finally broke down and started wearing long johns in January.   My next hat was one that the snowboarders wear – it had these long dangly strings that sprouted from the top of my head and the ties looked like something that Keeva had chewed.  In fact, my parents thought that Keeva had grabbed my hat and destroyed it and attempted to take it home with them to repair it.

The snowboarder hat didn't stay tied and my neck was still getting cold so I headed back to the store.  I found this marvelous pink Cossack hat with fake brown fur.  I thought it was awesome (it screamed Doctor Zhivago to me) and rushed to the checkout to buy it.  My son was home from college and we headed out one brisk morning to walk the dogs (I was pup sitting my grandpuppy).  My son rolled his eyes and said, "You have got to be kidding me.  You seriously aren't going to wear that hat, are you?"  I replied, "Yes, I am. I think I look like Julie Christy and it's warm.  I love it."  Of course he didn't know who Julie Christy is and with another roll of his eyes, he grabbed Gunny's leash and they bolted out the door.  I kept yelling for them to wait for Keeva and me but I don't think they heard me as they kept running and running.  I think I heard them laughing but I was so far behind that I can't be sure.

The back road that we walk on has a section that I call my enchanted forest.  I love to pop up this one little hill and look down and see the tall trees embraced with the snow.  Sometimes I will spy cardinals perched on the branches.  On occasion I will encounter a flock of turkeys walking down road, creating a path on the road and many times Gunny and I meet up with a family of deer.  The deer never stick around when they see us; my husband says that my hat probably scares them away.

I don't know what the big fuss about my hat is; I think it's adorable.  My daughter and Keeva joined Gunny and I on our walk recently.  When I placed my chapeau upon my head, my daughter began to shake in fear and loathing and exclaimed, "You can't wear that!" (Ok, her exact words were, "Oh h*** no, you aren't wearing that out in public with me!")   Well, you can imagine what my words back to her were, so we'll just skip that part.  Suffice to say, I wore my splendid hat and we saw many cars along our walk and for some odd reason, all of the drivers did a double take and almost swerved off the road to get a second look at my hat…  "See," I told my daughter, "I told you that I looked awesome in this hat."

For some reason, my family has fervently been praying that Spring will come early this year.  I'll miss the snow, but I have had my eye on a pair of lime green Crocs…