I awoke early this morning anticipating the awful noise of my alarm.  Before it sounded, I hit the ‘don’t bother me’ button on my phone and with sluggish mind and feet shuffled to my bedroom window and pulled open the blinds.

The heaviness of my mood instantaneously turned to sheer joy! SNOW! a lot of snow!

Images of my brothers, sisters and I running across the yard were no longer just memories.  We children were out there playing and laughing as we hurled snowballs and caught snowflakes on our tongues.

The whole morning passed as I looked out the window. Oh what wonder, what magic in those snowflakes.  So much action and flurry…but no sound!  Just perfect silence, perfect peace.

I stood there listening to the silence for a long time.  My heart was filled with awe and gratitude.

Baby, my little fox terrier, didn’t want to go outside.  I noticed the clock – it was almost noon!  She rejected the invitation to go outside the first and second time, so I put on my coat and shoes, and with my broom in hand, swept a path that she could follow off the deck and into the yard.

She gingerly walked to the edge of the deck and stopped.  I could almost hear her say ‘no way’.   With encouragement and a little push with my foot she stepped down into the snow.

Baby stood puzzled for moment.  She was assessing the situation and finally decided that her opinion and memory of snow was quiet different than mine. It was her immediate desire to return to the comfort of her overstuffed chair and heated blankie.

With even more coaxing I ran out in to the yard and called her.  Baby excitedly liked this new game and followed me to a part of the yard with a little less snow.

Once there, she trotted in a circle and then ran back up on the deck.  The comedy of my little dog’s expressions and actions made me laugh aloud.  As I shook my head at her and called her a stinker, my eyes caught an amazing sight.

There in the snow, the tracks that were made by my playful pup was not a mere circle, but a HEART!! 

Totally unexpected, but so greatly appreciated was yet another Sign of Love.
What a morning!

by Carol Thompson
Eugene, Oregon
www.happy-tiers.com