Mother Nature Can Just Keep the Ice

Mother Nature has the most annoying habit of not consulting people before she decides what conditions to leave on our doorstep. I bet you didn't need me to tell you that. Anyways, we can handle snow, but ice is just downright aggravating.

It is because of this ice that the only ones getting around our property successfully are the animals. Strider, our Icelandic Sheepdog, is equipped with double dewclaws, which means that ice is no obstacle for him at all. Bodicea, our barn cat, also seems to be able to traverse around without much trouble. The rabbits, outside my window, seem unaware that the property is one giant sheet of ice, as they move about like welcomed guests, which they are not. Unfortunately, it is us humans who are having a dickens of a time trying to get from point A to point B.

Duties have forced us to leave the confines of our four walls and wood-stove warmth to accomplish tasks such as filling the sheep's hay-feeder, fetching the mail, bringing trash to the curb, and simply walking to the car. The ice, however, has made these tasks as difficult as trying to climb a slip-n-slide that's been slicked up with soap.

We gingerly step-off our deck, sticking our arms out like scarecrows, trying to balance ourselves all the while lamenting the uneven nature of our landscape. The subconscious act of walking has become an act of painstaking effort. We wobble, we slide, we fall. Our eyes constantly scan for crunchy patches of snow that will provide secure footing; tree branches or twigs that can be grabbed to help move us along. And yet, at the end of the day we are still left with black and blue marks in places only our spouse can see.

I wonder if the animals look at our antics and laugh to themselves, wondering why we struggle to walk in these conditions, and why we have ski poles and crampons attached to our body parts. I also wonder if they feel superior to us in these icy winter months, pondering how the evolutionary process has left them better suited to handle ice than us, their slip-prone, two-legged owners.