Quietly quietly

Autumn has left and winter has come. The leaves are snowed under and the cold wind blows the snow in hissing waves.

But I am up for a walk anyway.

Our walks are quieter than a few weeks ago. Especially for my Person, who wears a huge hat on her head to keep her ears warm and to amuse the rest of us. The winter robins "chuck chuck" quietly quietly as we walk along and our footfalls are muffled in snow. Woodpeckers rap on tree trunks but few other birds are seen. The river flows quietly quietly under a skin of ice and a blanket of snow. Yesterday the river ice was talking - creaks and hums and strange zings. But not today. An eagle flies quietly quietly over the walking path and down by the river edge a strange wild creature noses quietly quietly along. I bark but not quietly. My Person and I are both pretty sure it was a coyote.

After this I was so excited I made up for the wintery hush by barking at all kinds of things - people, dogs, leaf piles. I barked myself into a great state of almost summery warmth. So much for quietly quietly.