[66sprint6]

There used to be a mass exodus from Canada. For about 2 weeks. We’d head to Florida where my wife’s parents had a place in Weeki Wachee. Or Costa Rica or Cuba. The special gift that we received from Asia put a crimp on that for the foreseeable future.

[ponyakr]

Low 20's here, with a sleet/freezing rain mix, & more coming our way.

https://weather.com/weather/hourbyho...445c575e426037

[ponyakr]

"...She has gone thru quite a few "trail dogs", during her 40+ years of Appy riding. Dogs just seem to love going on trail rides. We've never bought a dog. Most of 'em have just "showed up". There has been quite a variety. "

TJ finally found this pic. It was taken in Jan of 2000. She'd only had the horse less than a month. It shows 3 of her "trail dogs". 2 of 'em lived to make the move with us, from that location over to the place where we live now, back in 2004. TJ said that the most trail dogs she ever had on a ride was 5. Those were Roscoe P. Gravytrain, Rosey Red Pooh, Roxie Red Pooh, Rusty Red Pooh, & Lil Red. They were all the same color, which was sort of a reddish tan. We called it red. My favorite of all time was Roscoe. He was TJ's protector from any dogs along the trail that might indicate they wanted to attack. Once there were 2 Big German Bernards that ran down their driveway & acted like they wanted to attack the horse. Although out-sized & outnumbered, Roscoe never hesitated for a moment. He tore into the closest one & sent 'em both packin, back up their driveway. I think he caught 'em by surprise. Probably the 1st dog that ever challenged them. To me, he was sort of a hero dog. Like a brave police officer who runs toward the danger, rather than away from it. Yeah, I really loved that dog. It's sad that good dogs live such short lives. But, there are some that you just never forget.

This 1st pic also shows how we need to dress, on an average Jan day, here. All we usually need is a light jacket. If the wind is blowing, sometimes we need to add a knit cap down over the ears.

BUT, on rare occasions, we've had Winter storms in Dec, Jan, & Feb. I can even remember snow in late Mar, one year. I still had my '69 GTO on the street, & was working construction at our local paper mill, as an Ironworker. So, that would have been Mar of either '70 or '71. We went to work, but soon after we got there, it began to snow, pretty heavy, enuff to cover the roads. So, they told us to go home.

Well, me & an Ironworker friend loaded up my ice chest with brewsky, and cruised around for hours, on the country roads. Don't remember meeting a single vehicle. We'd stop right in the middle of the road, for pit stops. The Goat had a posi rear & radial tires. So it didn't seem to slip a bit, unless I wanted it to. Cut a donut in one big 4-way intersection. Other than that, I just puttered slowly right down the middle of the road. We just seemed to have the only vehicle on the road, that day. The roads were covered with snow, without a single tire track. It was very quiet & beautiful out on those country roads. It remains in my memory as a very unique day in my life.