❄️For The Joy of It All!❄️

 

            Ralph likes all kinds of weather, it’s true, but he really likes snow.
            It was one of those perfect days in winter. The sky was as blue as an angel’s eye. The snow lay deep and perfect. Both meadows were covered in a couple of feet of the stuff, creating strange exotic shapes where it lay over the brush and grasses. Even the Silver River was dressed for winter with snow decked on both banks. The wind blew up from the Sound all along the riverbanks and way up to the north. Some minute crystals of snow followed along, flashing tiny rainbows.
            One reason he really digs deep snow is that he can practice his slippy-hippy glide thing. It’s almost like cross country skiing! Sloosh, sloosh, sloosh, unless he wants to be silent. It’s a choice.
            Overhead, Maeve, stark black, precise and emphatic flew in great sweeping circles. Seen from above she would have perhaps reminded a person of Japanese brush strokes, seemingly careless and yet correct.
            She allowed herself a controlled fall, to within calling distance of Ralph, then righted herself and spread her wings to break the fall.
            “Hey, Boss,” she called.
            “Hey, Birdy! That was pretty cool!” he called back, laughing at her rapid descent and correction.
            “Where are you going this morning so early?” she said.
            “Maybe out by Bob’s place!” said he, gliding as he spoke.
            “Me too!” said Maeve.
            “Maybe clear up to the road to town!” he called up into the air.
            When they got to the Stump House, all was quiet. No smoke rose from the fire place. The snow was unbroken all around. Bob and Suzy had to be sleeping in. He didn’t wake them. When they finally got up, they would see his tracks and know that he had been by earlier. Maybe he would see them on his way back to Ramona.
            Ralph and Maeve continued past the Stump. The untouched snow gave way to a sort of trampled path. He was pretty sure where that path would lead, or more precisely, who was at the end of it.
            He was right. About halfway to the road, he found Jim. He looked like a hillock of dark brown fur. His great hard head was still. His eyes were closed. Only tiny puffs of steam came from his nostrils.
            “Are you dead, Jim?’ said Ralph. Maeve came in for a landing on his shoulder to get a better look.
            Jim made a rude noise and kept his eyes shut. He was in the middle of a big trampled circle of dug up snow.
            “What’s the matter with you? Do you have a stomach ache, or does your big head hurt?” said Ralph. Maeve, kept her peace, but she was thinking. Her black eyes glittered in the bright sunlight.
            Jim opened the eye nearest Ralph, stuck his tongue out and emitted a long miserable bellow. “I’m bored.”
            “That’s it?” said Ralph, surprised.
            “It’s the worst thing in the world. My head feels like a stump. A bored stump. There are no pictures in it!” said Jim.
            “Have you been eating grass?” said Ralph.
            “Yes, though I have to dig it up. It’s boring.”
            “Have you been roaming in the meadow here?” said Ralph.
            “Meh,” said Jim.
            “First thing to do is stand up,” said Ralph.
            “Yeah? Make me.”
            “Oh, Jim! If you don’t, we’ll have to eat you!” said Ralph. Maeve chuckled under breath.
            This caught Jim’s attention a little.
             “Aw, come on, Man! Don’t eat me! I’ll get up,” said Jim, struggling to his feet. He had been sitting there for some time. Muddy snow was frozen to his dark coat all along where it had been touching the ground. His tail was frozen to his backside.
            “OK, let’s go for a walk. Moving wakes up your head, Jim,” said Ralph. “Now, what did your Mama tell you to do?”
            “Mama said to eat grass, because grass is good. And to run!” said Jim, his breath coming faster as he remembered his Mama’s teaching.
            “Look up, Jim! What do you see?”
            “I see the sky! I never noticed it before,” his mouth hung open. His eyes rolled upward.
            “Let’s run, Jim, you and me together!” said Ralph.
            So, they ran together, Ralph gliding like a cross country skier, and Jim like a one bison thundering herd. They ran all the way to the country road that ends up in Milltown if you go far enough. Maeve flew above them.
            “Hey,” said Jim, “I’ll race you down to Bob’s Stump!”
            They wheeled around and ran full bore down to the Stump House. Suzy was just coming out to start her fire. Bob was still inside, until he heard Jim and Ralph thundering along. He had to come out to see what it was all about.
            “Oh, man, Suzy! You probably need some wood, don’t you?” said Jim, like it was a brand-new notion to him.
            “Hi, Jim. Sure, that would be nice,” said Suzy.
            Jim took off for the tree line, to find something suitable to knock down for firewood.
            “Hi, Ralphie,” Uncle Bob yawned. “What’s up?”
            “Oh, I was just helping Jim to not be bored. I guess we better follow him and drag whatever he knocks down over here,” said Ralph.
            “I don’t get bored,” said Uncle Bob. “I think up songs, and hunt and find firewood. Then I sleep.”
            “That’s right, Bob, for the joy of it all,” said Ralph, as they headed out to follow Jim to the tree line to see what he had knocked down.

❄️🤎❄️