something of a breakthrough

i've always wondered what is the fascination with breaking ice that the big one has. yes you know i love the pow pow. we do live in vail for god sakes. there is nothing quite like running through the freshies with your mouth wide open and your neck tilted down so that your open mouth scoops up the white gold. if you are a warm weather dog....i'm sorry.

but that is what i like. the big one and the little one like to break ice. i've never understood. on walks, especially in the spring when the snow begins to melt, the big one always walks me close to the edge of the street so he can walk on the fragile ice and break it. maybe it is the sound that it makes. maybe it is his way of destroying something without the usual consequences of destruction. maybe it is just the sound. i wasn't sure until this morning. because until this morning i've never experienced the sublime pleasure of breakage.

today on our walk i moved out from behind him onto his left and then i passed him and quickly swerved right in front of his marching feet. this brought me squarely onto the ice shelf that lines the right side of the road. my mind was thinking how cool it was that now that i'm directly in front of him i can control his speed. but just as soon as that thought registered i felt the ground give. i stepped through the ice shelf. i heard the crack and crunch. i felt the ground break beneath my right front foot. damn that felt good. kafka, the destroyer. i tried and tried to repeat the task, but to no avail.

but now i know one of the joys of being a crusher of ice. my envy of the big one has increased by a degree.