Surprise!

I haven’t blogged much this week. I’ve been a bit under the weather. Nothing major, just a cold, but it’s been enough to slow me down a bit.

Last night I had an unexpected surprise. I was upstairs doing something when the dogs suddenly set up a ruckus. I realized someone was at the door. Since I live where I do, you might guess that this is a rare occurrence. It’s even rarer when I’m not expecting anyone. So I head downstairs, sort of expecting to see my neighbor Wes, since he’s the closest and only other person around. But I quickly saw that it was two women and then just as quickly realized it was my teenaged niece Lydia (who seems to have grown several inches in a month or so) and her friend Michelle. Wednesday is one of Brother’s nights to work at the resort, and the girls came along with him.

So I invited them in to the dog-infested cabin. Dog and Baby Dog wouldn’t quiet down, convinced that two teenage girls apparently were carrying weapons of mass destruction. So Dog was put into the bathroom, where he eventually quieted down. Once Baby Dog actually met the visitors, she stopped barking and started doing puppy squiggles.

Lydia and Michelle, the friend, were ‘boarding on the mountain. It was Michelle’s first try at it. Lydia has boarded for years but took a header that knocked the wind out of her, and I think they decided that was reason enough for them to decide to walk over to the cabin.

So we chatted for a bit. Then I grabbed my flashlight and took the girls and Baby Dog for a walk down the hill, through the muddy woods and over to the new pond so they could see it. The walk was muddier than it would have been just a day before. In fact, the night before I saw 5 snowmobilers over there. But yesterday was warm, and a lot of the snow melted.

The pond looks beautiful by night, especially since the night was clear and calm and even a bit balmy. Afterwards, the girls walked back over to the resort, and Baby Dog and I went home. Our surprise was over, but is mellow happiness lingers.