I hadn't seen my friend Michelle in a long time, so it was great to get out and run together while the sun shone today.

We drove out to my old (circa 1991) neighborhood on the Wilton/Mason line, parked near Pratt Pond, and ran for an hour and a half (give or take a few minutes) on some very hilly roads, most of them dirt. We were bummed that it took us so long… we guessed we'd gone about six miles. Then we drove the course. Nine miles! Huzzah! I love it when that happens.

Later that afternoon, I strapped on my snowshoes for the second time in my life and tramped around with Clover in the woods and swamp behind my house. It borders Salmon Brook, a lovely little meandering stream, sorely mistreated by the local human population.

Though it's smack dab in town, it feels adventurous to walk around wild areas that are inaccessible most of the year, unless you fancy wading hip-deep through muck and brambles. I could see houses most of the time, but the sun was setting pink and purple, and there were a few gnarled, stunted trees, loners rising from tiny hummocks in the bog… I wished I had a camera.

Being half Lab, Clover was unable to resist sniffing around the stream, so naturally she fell through the ice. I learned to run in snowshoes, snatched off a glove, hauled her up by the collar, and gave her a swat on the nose with the empty glove. She thought it all quite hilarious until we got home. Clover loves that dirty water, but she can't abide a bath.

Of course, it can happen to anyone…