It's all relative

4:30 pm. I had put in my day's worth of work and it was time to go home.

The temperature outdoors was 42 degrees Fahrenheit, only 10 degrees above freezing. I put on my long wool coat, wrapped my knitted scarf around my neck, buttoned up my coat and walked out the door to my car. The sun was shining. There was no wind. If it had been a day in November and 42 degrees, I would have huddled my neck down into my scarf and thought it was really cold. Instead, I unbuttoned my coat and raised my face to the sunshine, thinking it was an absolutely gorgeous, downright balmy, day.

I raced home, thinking Abbie would enjoy today's afternoon walk as compared to the single digit to teens temperatures we had been experiencing. As soon as I got home, I changed my clothes and put on my walking shoes. Abbie was ready to go after spending the day in her kennel.

We took off outside. Her tail rose like a metal flagpole. We took off down the road. Her tail whipped, giving her back legs a lift off of the ground. She loves the heat, and often lies on the tiles in front of the wood burning stove to soak in the heat. But today's difference in temperature was noticeable to her and she wasn't begging to go back to the house. Instead, she jumped and bounced as she raced down the road, tail wagging, ears perked, nose engaged.

In the cold mornings, we often get half way through our walk when Abbie decides she is ready to turn back to the house and its warmth. Today, there was none of that behavior. The snow in the ditches was still deep, but instead of being fluffy and easy for Abbie to run through, it was heavy and wet with melting. Abbie took off through the ditches, sinking up to her belly in the snow and loving the challenge of the workout. As she emerged out of the ditches onto the road, she would shake her entire body, starting at her head and through to her back legs, doing a twist as her back legs danced off the ground.

By the time we were at the end of our first mile, the sun had set and it was time to turn around and go back to the house. Abbie was ahead of me, so I decided to keep walking. There was still enough light in the sky and the sunset's colors were a brilliant orange fading to pink. The blue sky above was crossed with condensation trails of people traveling to places unknown. Several flocks of geese had also flown overhead. I didn't want this time to be over and neither did Abbie.

When we did finally turn to go home, there was a faint wind in my face that smelled like spring. The melting snow and warming earth created that spring smell that made deep breathing a joy as the wind caressed my face. Thoughts of crocus and daffodils crossed my mind.

By the time we got home, the temperature had dropped to 36 degrees. It was only four degrees above freezing; still cold but not frigid as it has been. The wind was mild and it smelled like springtime. Abbie enjoyed running through the soggy snow as much as I had enjoyed watching her and the sun setting behind the horizon. Cold? Maybe, but it's all relative. We would look forward to tomorrow morning's walk, no matter what the temperature.