Welcome to this week’s edition of Nature Friday where we join the pups from Adventures of the LLB Gang. Elsa here. Well you can blame Mom for this week’s post since she’s been whining about the drab color lately. Nature said, ok, you don’t like drab…how’s about we change the palette to white? Good grief! And then she doubled down and turn off the heat. It’s been freezing, in fact, it’s been so cold, we haven’t been able to go for walks. Heck, I barely want to go pee but here we are. Yesterday we finally were able to go for a walk around the neighborhood to check out the updated color palette.Umm, Mom…not sure this is an improvement. Just saying.

Wilson: Well I jolly well was happy to be able to stretch my legs and see what I’ve missed at the various canine bulletin boards. Wow, can you believe people were walking their dogs in the snow and cold? Crikey.

Elsa: So that’s why Mom has been shaking her head. Walking a dog in sub-zero temps seems cruel to me. We even saw several dogs without coats or snow boots. Mom said that was not going to happen to us. She got creative with snuffle mats and a new gadget to entertain and exercise our brains. She’s constantly thinking about keeping us occupied…but mostly out of self-defense. I don’t do well being bored and will stand in a room and let her know in no uncertain times that I’m displeased.

Wilson: Boy was I glad for this wobble bowl. Mom smeared pumpkin, canned dog food and yogurt all up and down those knobs and because it’s bowl shaped it rocks. It took me forever to snarf up all that delicious spread. Way to go, Mum!

Elsa: Even as picky as I can be about stuff like this, I didn’t mind ‘working’ for the reward of that tasty spread. Wish the darn thing wouldn’t walk all over the place though.

Wilson: Mum said that’s the point. We had to ‘think’ about how we were going to get those tasty snacks. I don’t know about you, but I was tuckered out and enjoyed a nice nap after all that work.

Elsa: Well I wouldn’t want to do that for extended times, but it helped while Nature turned our world into a deep freeze. Can’t remember the last time it snowed for a solid day and a half although some of the snow dribbled down to flurries. It wasn’t the most snow we’ve received, probably only about 7 inches or so, but it was super dry. The cold must have squeezed out all the moisture.

Wilson: Could be. But the past couple of days the temps finally got out of the cellar and we were able to walk in reasonably comfortable temps with the appropriate snow wear. Neither of us are keen to paddle about in those snow boots, but Mum insisted. She said it’ll keep ice balls from forming in our pads. You know she always has our best interests at heart.

Elsa: That may be but I hate those bloody things and I’m gonna let her know my displeasure by making it hard for her to get them on me. It took us forever to get dressed and then she had to bundle herself up. That’s when I get impatient and try to make her to fall down. Heh, heh. I’ll show her.

Wilson: We really should cooperate more so that we can start walking sooner.

Elsa: Oh yeah…hmmm, guess I better rethink my strategy so it’s more in our favor.

Wilson: Right-o, Ninja!

Elsa: So Mom loves encountering Canadian geese, though I swear, I have no idea. Those fat birds aren’t very friendly and the poop everywhere. But she almost always takes photos of them and there were a bunch of them out on the lawn at the Mullen House, an assisted living area nearby our Ranch. They stomped all over the snow leaving tracks and yelled a lot at us.

Wilson: I was fascinated watching those strange creatures and was torn between staying or moving along to catch up with latest gossip at the various doggo bulletin boards. By golly, it was a hard decision for me but when they took flight and honked their displeasure that we interrupted them, it was an easy decision to move along.

Elsa: Move along? Ha…that’s one to sugarcoat it. Mom practically had to tie an anchor around you to keep you from trying to chase them! Why do you think she only caught the tail end of them taking flight? It’s because she was trying to hang on to you while fishing her cell phone out of her pocket and stay upright. You have an interesting way of interpreting reality.

Wilson: What? Can I help it if those geese were afraid of me? I’m not responsible for how they view things, am I?

Elsa: {eyes rolling} You know you should become a politician…the way you parse things, you’d be good spinning things.

Wilson: Erm…I don’t think that’d be a good vocation for me. I already have a terrific job being a pet therapy dog. Let’s just leave it there.

Elsa: I’m telling you, man…you could be the James Carville of the canine world. We continue to be shocked at every turn since January 20 but know Mom couldn’t take any more political news that sucks the oxygen out of the country and underscores the meanness of some humans. What else you got from our walk?

Wilson: We walk past this beautiful Queen Anne house that is always fascinating any time of year, especially in autumn and winter. From the large trees surrounding the beautiful architecture to the sights and sounds of nature in the city, it always provides an interesting view. This home is listed on the national historical registry and is known as the Heiser House. Built by saddle maker Hermann Heiser in 1893, the home is fully restored with an incredible stained glass front door. Mum told me she’s toured the inside of this home and it’s just as gorgeous and tastefully updated with modern touches. I’m just sure there’s a squirrel or two in that yard. That turett would make a great place to scan the yard for those little buggers. Do you notice  how much the evergreens absorbed the melted snow from this southern exposure pic or how crystal clear the blue the skies were? It was a gorgeous afternoon, even if temps were only around freezing.

Wilson: Here’s a photo of the front entrance showing the front door stained glass taken ove the late summer.

Elsa: I can see why Mom likes to walk past that house. It truly is something to behold. Well that’s it from us. We hope you like the new palette. Judging by news reports where snow fell all over the South, I guess Mom will be careful what she wishes for in the future. Her granddaughter from Houston sent her this snowman pic from their yard. While they’re from Colorado originally they now live in the Houston area and people were insane about the snow.

Wilson: No doubt snow and cold in Houston were a real eye opener for folks, but probably not as much as the 10 inches that fell in New Orleans. Folks down in the South aren’t familiar with the ways of cold and snow but we heard kids enjoyed a free day from school to sled down hills on cardboard boxes. Well that’s it from us. We hope everyone has a safe weekend and can enjoy some of the beauty Mother Nature provides us. We hear she’s planning on delivering more snow, but at least it won’t be cold as it was this week. Have a jolly good weekend!

Live, love, bark! 🐾

P.S. Mom apologies in advance in case there are problems with this post. In its quest to irritate the snot out of users, the latest update has things really screwed up and Mom had to hunt and search and hunt again to find things that used to be easily located (like categories, the save button, you know simply things like that). When you have a laptop with a trackpad instead of a mouse, you have to scroll down to find %$#@ up and down to add photos, change formatting and even the save button. It was maddening. She continues to think it’s a way to make everyone switch to that hell hole known as the Block editor. What a cluster!!