Charlie’s Corner is the domain of Charlie, the furry four-legged lady’s man of the Market Common. Each month, he’ll share information to help all new, visiting, and existing doggie community members get the most out of life alongside their human companions. Here, we’ll feature his reflections on what it’s like to be a dashing downtown doggie, as he reminds all of us how to play well together.
This January, Charlie celebrates the New Year by embarking on his first snow adventure and turns a bit “abominable” in the process.
I have some great doggie pen pal friends. Over Christmas they invited me to join them in the mountains of Colorado where they live so we could play in person and I could see my first snow. They couldn’t believe it when I told them I had never seen snow before.
Rolf, is a St. Bernard and Tim, a Giant Alaskan Malamute, so they really dig the cold temperatures. Plus they know that I have my very own column where I write about my adventures on a monthly basis, and they wanted to provide me with some fodder for it as well as fun.
(I think secretly, they also wanted to laugh at me a bit seeing as I’m the kind of guy who’s more inclined to loll about on plush sofas being snuggled rather than hiking up rugged snow-covered mountains, but whatever.)
So Rolf wrote me:
Dear Charlie,
Can you come and play before the New Year? There’s snow. Tim will be here too. Ask Jim.
Rolf
So I asked Jim if I could go for a sleepover, and he said yes, and luckily Megan was heading that direction anyway, and agreed to drop me at my friend’s house.
I donned a little green and black plaid wool jacket to protect me from the cold (it also matches my Insider hat that I sport frequently, goodie!), and I was off. When our plane landed and we arrived at Rolf’s house, Megan rang the bell, and I met my friend Rolf for the first time. Boy was he huge! But oh so friendly.
We frolicked and played as dogs do in way of greeting, and Rolf accidentally drooled on me, but it was all good. Hey, friends are forgiving.
Then I met Tim too (also huge, also friendly, luckily no drool) and after a quick bowl of water, we headed into Rolf’s backyard where there was a foot of snow. I saw it when we first arrived in Colorado, but this wasn’t shoveled.
It was fluffy, light and pristine. I have never seen anything so white before in my life, excepting the luscious coat of yours truly. And when I touched my paw to it, I sank right up to my belly, and brrrrrrrrrr, was it cold. But I loved the softness and delicateness of it.
Rolf and Tim went bounding and rolling immediately, while I stayed tentatively behind, warming up to this new element. As I stepped and struggled, the snow became stuck between my paws until it was like I was walking with attached snow paddles.
Then it was time for a snowball fight— we all frolicked and rolled and romped, and exhausted from all the fun, I waddle-paddled back to the door to be let in. But as I approached, I saw standing in front of me a giant snow monster!
It had black eyes, and was entirely made of snow. ARRRGGGG I screamed, leaping two feet in the air. But when I leapt, so did the monster, and airborne, my snow-paddle feet crumbled, as well as the monster in front of me, which was just…. my reflection.
Tim and Rolf were rolling on the ground howling with laughter. But I’ll tell you, much as I enjoyed my first romp in the snow, I sure was glad to get back inside and onto the couch in front of a warm fire, where Rolf’s mom obligingly gave me a belly rub.
It’s good to try new things, but some of my favorites will always remain just that— favorites.
Until next time,
