It’s a beautiful, sunny day here in Kamloops. I’m just in from taking the pups out in the backyard where all three of us risked life and limb so they could tend to the necessary business. It’s an ice rink out there—and not one suitable for the sport of skating. No, there’s a different kind of athletic required to navigate the ice in our backyard. It requires dexterity, caution, and a high level of determination.
I feel sorry for our Yorkies when their tiny legs slip and slide trying to get to a suitable place to do their business, and for Gerry and me as we try to navigate the treacherous landscape to remove the “fruit” of their labour. We small dog owners are accustomed to shoveling snow from our lawns in the winter to accommodate our pups, but this hard-packed ice is something altogether different.
Yesterday, Gerry took a shovel out and tried to break up some of the ice and create a safer path for the dogs. Is it much better? Not really. We need sunshine and warmer temperatures to do the job and it’s coming. Perhaps not as quickly as we’d like but it’s just around the corner and in a world fat with uncertainty about many things, of that I am certain.
There’s a strange comfort in watching the ice and the snow slowly disappear (and reappear) this year. It’s reminding me that there’s not always a straight and uninterrupted path toward where we want to end up. Current events are unsettling these days. It’s far too easy to get caught up in checking news sources and speculating on this and that (I’m speaking to myself more than anyone else). The slow journey toward spring helps keep me grounded, and this not-quite-winter and not-quite-spring season reminds me to remain hopeful and trust in the Creator one moment at a time.
