A White Easter in Minnesota

Hello, my dog friends! Happy Easter to you. This is the earliest Easter since the 1920's, or so I read in the newspaper. In the past two days, we have gotten a new 4 inch layer of snow. I will be wearing my winter boots to church tomorrow. No fancy dresses with high heels and a hat, for sure!!

My dogs are having a great time this morning playing with a new stuffed squeeky toy! I did take them to the Carlos Avery Wildlife Dam on Thursday. There is a lake above the dam. The lake is the Sunrise River Lake. If I were to canoe from my dock, I might be able to make it to the lake where the dam is. Of course, the river gets pretty shallow. It is more of a creek. I might have to get out and walk the canoe through the sandbars.

But, the lake, just above the dam, is fairly deep, and of course there is a current as the water wants to rush to a lower level. Above the dam is a narrow walkway so we humans can walk to the other side of the lake and into the vast forests of Carlos Avery.

Buddha, my male Boxer, isn't afraid to traverse the bridge, but Shelly is reluctant. There are grates in the walkway and I think the sound of the rushing water frightens her.

Two young boys were fishing on the other side of the bridge on Thursday afternoon. Buddha wanted to greet them right away. Shelly did too, but she decided to go across the ice on the lake, which is very dark and slushy in some places.

When I saw her cross the ice above the dam, my heart dropped into my stomach. If she went down, would I go after her? Would she go under the ice and over the dam, perhaps surviving to exit on the river side?

I quickly looked for any flat board that would allow me to scoot on my belly onto the ice if she did fall in. All of us have seen videos of dogs and deer struggling to get out of a hole in the ice. Alas, there was nothing.

As much as I love taking the dogs to the dam and walking the trails, until the ice is out, it is too dangerous for silly Shelly.

I have decided to visit the leader of the local Lion's Club which does good things for our community, and ask them to put up a body board near the dam for saving people or animals that go through the ice.

Rocket, my blind dog, enjoys going to the other side of the lake as well, but the step up to the bridge walkway is almost too high to lift him. The other side of the river, below the dam, is beautiful with a sandy river bottom and lots of rocks to climb. It is a favorite place for fishermen.

Many years ago, when I first moved to this small town, I bought a large metal garbage can and had the local hardware store connect the top with a chain to the can. I took it to the dam site and each day I picked up trash. Soon, others who saw me cleaning up the area also picked up trash. It was looking pretty good. The owner of the hardware store told me I could deposit the trash for free in his dumpster.

Then one day while I was at the dam, the DNR man was there (Department of Natural Resources). With some pride, I told him I had placed the garbage can there, and didn't the area look much nicer? He told me I had to remove it, because it was illegal. If I left it there, soon people would be dumping couches and refrigerators in the area as well as their trash. That logic escaped me, so I left the garbage can.

The next week, it was gone.

This was the same DNR man who, when Rocket got lost in the woods of Carlos Avery near my home, and was missing for 3 days and two nights, told me not to bother having a search party for him because the coyotes and wolves had already eaten him. I had asked him for assistance in the search, which, of course, was successful, because we did find Rocket nesting under a pine tree. Very cold (it was early January) and much thinner.

After that, I always put bells on his collar so I can hear where he is if he wanders off. And, of course, he is obedience trained now, so he listens to me when I say "come". Rocket loves his off leash walks. It was just a fluke that he disappeared that evening four years ago just as the sun set, and I couldn't find him.

The dogs are looking at me saying with their eyes, "Isn't it time you got dressed and take us for a walk?" Fortunately, because I live in a rural area, there are many places to take the dogs besides the dam. I could even walk them on my property, as I have three trails that go from my formal (and fenced) yard to the river, except I have not removed the snow, and it is too deep for walking.

Ah, yes, we will have warmer weather soon. The snow will melt, and I will be able to enjoy my yard again.

Happy Easter to all of you. Diana Lynn of Sunrise River Boxers in Stacy, MN

Happy Easter to you too from a white Lincolnshire

We have had snow here as well. Nice to hear more about Rocket - That DNR man sounds like a typical beurocrat!!