We woke up to a fantastic thin blanket of snow, and because this is Georgia, school was canceled. Michael, Ben, and I  bundled up and set out to walk and explore, teaching Ben about things he had only read about in books like animal tracks, snowballs, frozen streets, crunchy boots, and possibly a miniature snowman. We played in the yard a while. Minnie Belle loved the snow! She was running in circles, jumping up and down, and sticking her nose in the snow and snorting. Watching her and Ben play was pure and simple FUN!

 
 



We live in a rural area, and have a large lake nearby. We walked to the lake to see it. I wanted to take pictures of it, and it was a good time to teach Ben about the dangers of ice. As we were walking down to the lake, we were watching our step closely, and when we got down to the lake, we found Minnie Belle had walked out onto the frozen lake, and fallen through the ice. My heart stopped.











 


There were 2 decoy ducks that local hunters must have placed there, and I am assuming she was following her natural instincts to flush them. She was about 15 feet out onto the water, and we were about half a mile on foot from our home. We called her and she was trying her best to get out, but the ice was too slick. Michael extended a limb to her, but she didn't know what to do with it. My mind raced. This was unfamiliar territory for this southern family.

Then I remembered by some miracle hearing about or reading about how you should lay on your belly and scooch out to disperse your weight and my wonderful, loving, brave, husband did this to save my $20 mutt from the pound from death. He has been and always will be my hero, and he proved it again. A little melodramatic? No, not at all. Just look at that face, again....




We got her out and she was so happy! Full of LIFE and GLEE. We came up to the house, gave her a bath, and much to shock my mutt who was thought to be "part dachshund, part spaniel" must have some lab in her, because only the outside of her coat was wet. She had icicles on her fur, but her skin itself was dry. She got a warm bath, and a treat from the leftover containers in the fridge, and lots and lots and lots of hugs. And, I think Ben learned a lesson about safety on the ice he will never forgot.