first snow

Breathtaking is the morning starlight of the North skies reflecting first up, off the first snowfall of the winter season, and then back down, off a drifting cloud cover.

And taking a stroll in such a sparkling landscape, before anyone else has gotten up to mar the perfection of the fresh snowfall, is quite exhillerating.

Playing catch with your dog in the perfection of a fresh snowfall - well, it's a very pleasant slice of utopia. For me as well as for Puck. He was so pleased with his ability to race around the Park Strip, off-leash and in chase of a frisbee.

It was probably a good thing, however, that Puck and I were out playing catch before anyone else was up. I had to scramble to unpack all the winter things I had packed. And I guess I wasn't too inclined to do so.

So I ended up in a rather ridiculous dog-walking attire. A smorgasboord of winter-appropriate and dog-walking ridiculous. Dress boots, ski-sweater, long-black Italian dress-coat, and stocking cap. I think what ultimately pulled the outfit together was the fact that I had finally decided to stuff my hands into a pair of Iowa wool socks that wick after several minutes of unsuccessfully looking for my gloves.

In any event, I was so inspired by the crisp beauty of this fine Alaskan morning that I made a little trip to the grocery store and purchased a pair of gloves and a roll of duct tape.