A little bonus for walking the dog

I've been trying to take Gabe to the pasture for his run before the daily thaw starts, because I hate having to clean him up when he's been in the mud.  The stickers he gets in his fur are bad enough, and that's something that can't be avoided.  I'm willing to take one for the team if I must, though, because Gabe is so happy when he can go for a run.  This morning I looked at the hourly forecast around 8 AM and saw it was already 29 degrees, which meant I didn't have much time before it got muddy.  We were just starting out when I happened to look down as I was passing by the cottonwood tree and saw an arrowhead.  It was right there on top of the frozen ground; I had to work at getting it unstuck, but here it is. 

It's always a fun to find something like this when you aren't expecting it.  The previous owner of this part of our property plowed a lot of the ground up behind where our house sits and planted corn.  When he first plowed it, he let a co-worker come and hunt for artifacts, and that guy found a treasure trove of them.  Most of the arrowheads I find are chipped or broken.  

Oh yes, and even though I was walking on solidly frozen ground for the duration of my walk, Gabe managed to find some mud somewhere when he was out of sight.  Probably down in the biggest canyon on the place, since he insists on running down there every time we're back there.  

It's a long way down there

It worries me to death when Gabe gets so far out of my sight, but because it makes him happy, I continue to take the risk.  I wish he'd come when I call, though, the spoiled little scoundrel.  Most of the snow is gone on high ground, but it's colder down in the wooded valley.  So you wouldn't think Gabe would come out of there muddy, would you?  I imagine he's discovered the spring at the back of the place, and gets muddy when he's getting a drink.  It's always muddy around the spring.  You won't see me going down there these days.  It's a long, hard climb back to the top.

I've been looking back at the various versions I've done of "where I'm from".  You'll find my favorite version HERE.  

Sincerely,

Donna