After snowshoeing for a couple of hours in the brilliant Sunday sunshine with Denise Lajimodiere and then warming up over a bowl of potato-leek soup, my dog Noko looked at me with those sad eyes. I am a sucker for sad eyes, and there was a tiny bit of light left, so I put him in his harness, and we went for a little skijor.
It started out fine, but soon he was breaking through the snow every few strides. It was an awful lot of work for him. Once we got in the trees, he was able to stretch out a bit. I appreciated the wider trail from our snowshoeing earlier in the day; it gave me a bit more maneuverability when I needed to shift my weight or make a mini snowplow to slow down when Noko sunk in the snow.
As the twilight faded, I barely made out three skiers coming in the opposite direction in the classic tracks closer to the river. After waiting for them to gain some distance, I turned around so that Noko could chase after them. He always pulls harder if he is trying to catch up to someone. From their silhouettes and skiing style, I surmised it was three members of the Gaba family.
"Hello!" I called.
"Vijay Gaba here--is that Kelly?"
"Yes! Great night for a ski, isn't it?"
"Yes, thank you," replied Vijay.
"Well, have a good ski!"
It is difficult to have a good conversation from so far away, and now that Noko had pulled up abreast of them, I wanted to keep him moving so he didn't veer off the trail. "On by!" I shouted. He continued on. We made it back home without any injury.
It started out fine, but soon he was breaking through the snow every few strides. It was an awful lot of work for him. Once we got in the trees, he was able to stretch out a bit. I appreciated the wider trail from our snowshoeing earlier in the day; it gave me a bit more maneuverability when I needed to shift my weight or make a mini snowplow to slow down when Noko sunk in the snow.
As the twilight faded, I barely made out three skiers coming in the opposite direction in the classic tracks closer to the river. After waiting for them to gain some distance, I turned around so that Noko could chase after them. He always pulls harder if he is trying to catch up to someone. From their silhouettes and skiing style, I surmised it was three members of the Gaba family.
"Hello!" I called.
"Vijay Gaba here--is that Kelly?"
"Yes! Great night for a ski, isn't it?"
"Yes, thank you," replied Vijay.
"Well, have a good ski!"
It is difficult to have a good conversation from so far away, and now that Noko had pulled up abreast of them, I wanted to keep him moving so he didn't veer off the trail. "On by!" I shouted. He continued on. We made it back home without any injury.
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