January Cabin Fever

Look closely at the thermometer and you'll see the temperature hovering at about 20 degrees - one of the warmer days in a month that has not seen temperatures over freezing.

THE ENDLESS WINTER
OF 2010

As the month of January drags on interminably, here's what field trialers and their dogs do in New England. Not much.

Oh, you have your hearty few way up north who'll strap on the snowshoes and head out for a day of freezing cold fun running dogs, but for the rest of us, well, we'll sit in front of the woodstove waiting for the snow to melt, hoping that darn derby stays broke til spring, and praying that our best field trial dog doesn't come totally unglued over the chickadees and cardinals eating from the birdfeeder.

The kennel dogs are buried deep in straw in their boxes emerging only to empty out or maybe sit in the occasional milky ray of sun. The indoor dogs are sitting with us, next to that woodstove, waiting for that first sign of spring...

ADIOS MAIA, above, a young GSP, heads into the snowy woods
with high hopes ...

RAGGED HILL BONNIE, now 11, makes a slow swing
through the mountain laurel ...

THEN HI-TAILS it for home ...

ONLY TO FIND a patch of bare ground where she stops
to sit in the pine needles and bask - briefly - in the sun :-)

THE HORSES don't stray far from the barn.
Old Flash, now 35 and a heck of a field trial horse in his day,
enjoys a snooze in the sun ...

WHILE HIS BUDDY, Chief, keeps an eye on him.

AND WHAT was Maia able to come up with
during her half-hour outside?

THESE! The only birds that could be found
in this wicked winter weather :-)