sledding at my age...?

 the lady working at Russian Jack seemed surprised.  she asked if i was there walking, but i looked down at my sled, which was next to me and said, "nope, sledding!".  she said she was inspired and may try sledding again though it has been years.

 i mean aside from climbing back up the hill, it's not really a physical challenge i don't think.  i'm sure there are those who have a hard time getting up and down i suppose.

 as it turned out.  nobody could go sledding with me it seemed so i decided to just tackle the hill alone.  at first i had the whole hill to myself.  ended up being out there for 2 hours i think.

 speedy and family did show up after a Dr appointment.  they are fans of sledding so i stayed so i could do a few runs with them.  i was enjoying watching the sunset anyway.  it's a great place on the top of the hill for sunset viewing.

 love the feather clouds...all purple and pink.

 in 45 min it will officially be solstice.  so..Happy Solstice.  our shortest day.  now the days will hold steady for a week i think and then we will start to gain back..like 5 min a day i think it works out to.

 earlier, i took the pups out to N Biv for a stretch.  dogs gotta walk.  if i'd known there wasn't going to be anyone else on the sledding hill i may have just brought them along.  wore them out running up and down the hill...maybe i could train them to shuttle the sled back up.

 liked these action shots.  it's still a lot of wrestling on the walks.  i try to at least keep them forward of me.  lots to learn still but they are actually doing great overall off leash.  still pull on leash but not like they were doing.  well, there are a few moments of course.  off leash still dealing with some jumping issues, especially on Ivy's part.

 they, of course, had a grand time out there.

 love that they have beards that get coated with snow.  Tusker looks pretty distinguished.

 his nose stays snow free.  haha.

 this is the sun...it must be around 1:30 pm so it kind of shows how the sun never goes up too high during the day in winter.  we do have amazing sunrise/sunsets.

 i tried some runs with the go pro while i was sledding.  i'm not very adept at it yet.  probably would be way more cool with multiple folks on the hill during day light hours. i will keep trying.  still fun. easy to use.  more the after stuff.  remembering how to view them and all that.

 i should charge the batteries so they are ready for the next play day.  sledding would be great use of the toy though i think.

 we headed back to check on the tennis ball ornaments.  last year our bird seed ornaments were toast pretty much by the next day. the moose were all over that i suspect.  the tennis balls were still intact.

 they had some fresh snow coverage though so i had to take a few more pictures again.

 plus i had that sunlight filtering through as well.

 the pups again had to check them out.

 snow coating.

 my girls are still there.  i slept under my new blanket last night.  snuggled in Blossom.  not even sure who all was involved and donated to the blanket.  sounds like it was all the old PICU crew. super sweet and thoughtful gift.  i'm very touched that they took the time to do that for me.  i feel very loved, which is especially nice this time of year.

 it's an easy time of year to feel a bit lonely or to feel a bit sorry for yourself.  it is funny.  some years i do other years not at all.  not sure what determines that.  it's been a good year.  i guess timing just worked for a lot of stuff and maybe a steady stream of cards and such in the mail...and the blanket.

 maybe with Blossom's loss i've been distracted by that and just doing the stuff of Christmas. i've had time to watch the movies and listen to the music so i guess that helps too.  can't say my house is overly clean and i'm sure other stuff has been put off.

 i tend to sleep more in the winter anyway. or just be lazy more.  the dogs are the best motivation for me.  i can't imagine if i hadn't gotten the puppies and lost Blossom. i fear i would have gotten out a lot less and been much sadder.  they have been a good distraction.

 i want to be careful to not judge them by Blossom.  i want them to be able to just be who they are.  they have their own personalities. it's how it always is.  no two dogs are alike.  i want their little personalities to develop.

 it kind of seems like they may take turns through the night staying in the room with me.  i think Tusker is up with me more and Ivy tends to be the downstairs dog more....unless she is chasing Breezy.  haha.  then she is all over me, stomping.  she does not really get personal space.

 such amazing light in the winter....

 blue skies tonight.  before it said more snow, so happy that so far we have had a good winter with a decent base of snow.  it looks like Portage Lake is frozen as well, so that will have to be a place to take a walk one of these days.  it's snow covered which makes it less scary looking.  it's still always a risk out there, but something about walking on see through ice on a lake that is more unnerving.

 like those glass bridges i've seen. i suspect i'd be freaking out on one of those.

 we took some different loops on todays walk  so may ways to change it up.

 getting closer to 2 i guess by this time.  had to run home, settle dogs and then head to the sledding hill by 3...the time we had set up initially.

 blaze of sunlight

 watched a few Christmas flicks this week, last night i put in "Marigold Hotel...".

 3 nights of work coming up then i'll stick a turkey breast in the crock pot sat and have a few friends over to eat.

 bought stuff for taco's to get me through work.  taco salads always are tasty at work.

 what sweet faces...

 fat tire bikers out today.  those bikes are each around $4,000.00.  i won't be buying one anytime soon. i'll stick to walking, snowshoeing, a little cross country skiing, sledding and kick sledding.  i still need to load some gear in my car for the season...and it's already Dec.  haven't skied yet or played on the kick sled.  puppies  i think.

 coming like the good pups they are.

 post walk beard

 got this fun faux xmas sweater with a walrus on it from Amazon.  how could you not love it.  mostly i will use it as a night shirt, but it is cool

 here i am all wrapped up in my new blanket.  :-)

 more pics from sledding from my iphone

 joined by some other folks.

 so beautiful

 ivy is melting in the car.

 i shall head to bed.  still not sleeping right away.  never flipped over.  have to check my calendar and make sure i don't miss those dog training classes i signed up for.

grateful for: A.  amazing sunsets  B.   that i am still healthy and active and can enjoy sledding...i guess not all folks over 50 do this.  C.  solstice...may the sun return