Weather Not Fit for Man nor Beast

Morning dawned with a steady delivery of freezing rain, splashing against my kitchen window and casting a gray hue to all my eye could see. Wishing to postpone my time outdoors facing the elements with my Labrador pup, I downed a second cup of coffee, fortifying myself in anticipation of the cold and wet to come.
Nasty, is the word that best describes what I felt as I stepped outside. A cold rain fell upon my shoulders as I quickly adjusted my umbrella with one hand as my dog Dakota strained upon her leash with the other. Slipping and sliding my way to the side yard, I opened the frozen gate and let my pup free. Some branches of a white pine had come down under the weight of the ice and Dakota was curious as to why there were many more sticks than normal for her to chew on.

Walking for both pup and I was made more difficult given the crust of ice upon a layer of snow. Once your foot (or paw) broke through the ice, it tended to cause you to slip as your other foot broke through the ice and repeated the process. Dakota, who loves dashing through the snow, wasn't quite sure what to make of this new way of walking, especially because of the way the ice impeded her progress. She finally worked out a sort of hop, skip system which tended to make her look more like a rabbit than a dog, but moved her about efficiently.
After a brief stay outside, both dog and I decided we had had enough and headed for the gate, ready to embrace the warm and dry interior of the house. Sometimes weather is too bad even for a normally foul weather loving Lab.