My appreciation goes out to Rocky for expanding the scope of Cycle365 to include hiking and other outdoor activities. In return, my pledge to her (and to everybody else) is to not take advantage of the new rules by posting frivolous junk every time I go out of the house. EXCEPT FOR TODAY!

I’ve been thinking of writing about one of my twice-a-day walks with The Feeshko and Diggity for a few days now, but decided against it because they seemed too boring for public display. I figured it would be more interesting to wait until we headed out on a hiking trail in the woods or something similarly adventurous. Both Diggity and The Feeshko like hiking in the woods. Unfortunately, The Feeshko is still a few weeks away from being able to ramble up and down hills, over rocks and exposed tree roots, and through several inches of snow. (A reminder: She’s only on month number four of her six-month recovery after meniscus surgery.)

Today, however, we got an opportunity to do something a little more adventurous than our routine doggy walk.

Instead of the 6″ to 10″ of snow we were supposed to get last night, we got a nasty mix of rain and snow thanks to temperatures that never got below freezing. What that means can be summed up in one exclamatory word: SLUSH!!! Lots and lots of slush. Heavy slush. The kind of slush that often causes heart attacks and broken backs when people shovel it off their driveways.

Once back in the house, I said to The Feeshko, “I don’t think Diggity will want to go for a walk in that slush, but I’m going to ask him anyway.”

“Aren’t you going to ask The Feeshko if she wants to go for a walk,” asked The Feeshko? Yes, sometimes she’ll actually refer to herself by that odd name I gave her. Sometimes I think she actually LIKES it.

“Oh, absolutely,” I replied. “I just didn’t think you’d be up to walking in that wet, greasy, slimy slush.”

“Well, I was thinking about it.” And with that, she put on her leggings and her boots and her coat. I attached Diggity’s leash to his collar, and within minutes all three of us were walking up the road. See why they are my heroes?

Biking, hiking, and shoveling are only three of my favorite wintertime activities. The other two are snowman building and snowball throwing. I know The Feeshko thinks I’m a complete nut job, but she agreed to film me in the following video.

And she didn’t mind stopping for a couple minutes so I could make a tiny snowman. Today, she is my #1 hero. Diggity is #2. I can’t decide if #3 is Shakespeare or Bob Dylan or the Coen Brothers.

We made it home and all three of us agreed it was one of our most fun walks in months. My snow shoveling back felt good. The Feeshko’s knee felt good. Diggity’s paws felt good. I made a delicious lunch. All was right in the world.