The first winter snowfall hit the night of Halloween. For some reason, trick-or-treaters in Bend usually wind up having to trudge through snow, with the pre-teen and teen girls pretending they’re not cold despite their spaghetti-strapped costumes and blueish lips. Luckily, for a change, the costumed petitioners had already been tucked into bed by the time the weather hit.
The following morning, I awoke to a snowy backyard. My puppy, Moke, could not have been happier. If a dog can look amazed and elated, he did.
I was not quite as happy as my pup, mostly because I knew I would have to navigate the roads at some point. I managed to buy myself a day. But with three dogs, including a ten-month-old and a four-year-old, you just can’t put off a dog walk forever. So the following morning, after the temperatures had warmed up enough to make the conditions a little less treacherous, we crept down the icy roads in my funky RV, since my car, which would have had snow tires on it, was still in the shop, the victim of supply chain and manpower issues, and headed out for an off-leash walk in the snow.
Of course, my 15-year-old pup, Sophie, and I were the only ones walking.
Moki bounded through the snow like a bunny on his way to a holiday party in the neighboring den. Ears flying behind him, he leaped, twirled, and rolled. And then rolled some more. In short, he frolicked like a madman, his black coat and panting little pink tongue a vivid contrast against a field of white.
He approaches almost everything with this kind of enthusiasm. If he was a writer, he would be golden. Can you imagine what it would be like to sit down to your computer or pad and paper and feel that kind of unadulterated joy?
To redefine your writing session as a frolic rather than a must-do, perhaps you could think of it as play. That’s where writing sloppy copy comes in. Use that as a tool to explore your thoughts, develop your throughline and make unexpected connections. Then greet all those with the same kind of amazement and appreciation that a puppy brings to a snowdrift, a leaf blowing in the wind, a squirrel, and just about anything or anyone else in their path.
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