More of Dave's Generic Ramblings: A Man for all seasons...except for this one.

At the age of 44 he became a cranky old man. The winter mornings woke him with the slow feel of ice-cold death. His knees and back and shoulders creaked as he sat up in his bed. His lovely Wife of many years continued in her slumber, blissfully unaware that another winter's morning had arrived.

His feet recoil at the touch of the cold, wooden floor and he hurries as best as his stiff legs will carry him, to the bathroom, where a warm, fluffy rug awaits his trembling toes. He looks in the mirror at the bleary-eyed man. "Can that be me?" He thinks, surveying the bag-laden eyes, complete with dark circles and the vast expanse of stomach that hides the very top of his pajama bottoms.

The cranky old man turns without thinking and reaches down to scratch the ears of Kevin, his Yellow Lab. Kevin is always at his side and is always ready for a good scratching. Kevin folds up on the floor in a thump as the man undresses and steps into the shower. The hot water, as good as any amount of caffeine he might imbibe, wakes him quickly.

He washes as fast as he can and then suddenly stops, arms loose at his sides as he stands, face into the steaming stream of hot water. He stands there for a full five minutes until he reaches the understanding that he is now ready to face the day.

Kevin feigns sleep, but at the sound of the shower door opening, he thump thumps his tail on the warm, fluffy rug without even bothering to lift an eyelid. The man thinks Kevin is just trying to be modest and offer him a wee bit of privacy. Privacy is something that the man has not known since he became married and had children and adopted his two dogs.

Dressed in his blue jeans, he irons his shirt. There is still a chill in the house on this morning, but in his busyness, the man does not feel it. Kevin, behind him on the floor, seems not to notice it either, nor does he care, because Kevin is a snow dog, just like many of his type are water dogs.

The man puts on his shirt and calls to Kevin and to Socks, Kevin's friend, the Lab-Shepherd Mix. She and Kevin bound down the stairs after the man and wait patiently at the door as he unlocks it.

They're off! Out the door and into the shiny whiteness that is this winter. They play for a moment until nature calls and then they're off again; leaping over piles of snow and plowing through snow drifts. They romp and they roll until Socks, with her black coat, is speckled with white snowflakes. Kevin, who is not so quick to give up, starts running again, as Socks plops on the snow to rest.

The man takes this all in and enjoys the view from behind the glass, where he is comfortable. He hates the thought of having to go outside to warm up the car. He thinks of moving to Florida or New Mexico or some other, warmer climate. He can't bear the thought of another, possibly colder, maybe even wetter...winter. He loves that his dogs love the snow, and he loves that his kids love it too. Heck, not that long ago, he himself liked it too!