Kimi did a little *Kimi in Ice* show for us yesterday morning. With the rain we had our wooden deck had gotten pretty wet and then it froze that night. Kimi had never been on ice before. Oh she has eaten ice, and she has *slipped up* a time or two but never before had she actually been trying to walk on ice. I laughed and laughed. She did a pretty good Bambi imitation for one who has never watched that movie before. LOL She went running out on the deck as soon as I opened the door, her back feet started sliding and slipping under her and before you knew it WHOOPS! There she went right on to her behind. She quickly jumped too her feet, not having yet figured out that jumping or moving quickly on ice is a no-no, and then it was her front feet slipping and slithering every which way. Wham! Down she went on to her chin. Not hard, certainly not hard enough to hurt, after all it is is true the bigger you are the harder you fall she certainly can't fall to hard now can she?? Kimi tried once again jumping to her feet, this time using all fours The problem is, all fours went to the four directions of the earth! At the same time! No she hadn't landed on her tummy, yet! But it was quite funny to watch her little feet scrambling like mad to gain a foot hold onto something that was .....well....as they say * slicker than snot*. I couldn't help myself I had to laugh. Out loud. And we all know how Kimi feels about being laughed at. She, slowly this time, drew herself to her full height of 10 1/4 inches, lifted her head proudly and ripped me a sharp "YIP!", punctuated by a slight lurch toward me. Which, again proved to be her undoing. She slipped. Her front feet slid left, then right, then both ways crossing over each other. All the while her back feet slithered. Right then left, then they too crossed over each other. Next thing you know her behind slid to a full stop, right under her, then down tumbled her chin. Boy was she all tied up! Her tiny body slid forward and she had the most shocked, surprised and exasperated look wash over her face! If only I could have frozen THAT look in time! Bad, bad, mommy that I am I just stood there laughing. Thankfully Kimi is a fast learner though and she slowly and oh so carefully uncrossed her front feet and her back feet and delicately rose to all fours again. She stood there for a couple of seconds looking around her carefully, as if to wonder how in the world she got herself into that mess, and more importantly how was she going to get out of it and still maintain her dignity??

She took one tiny step forward with her right front foot, carefully placing it down on the deck. As soon as it made contact with the ice, it slipped, she panicked, tried to grab a hold more firmly and slid further. Her tiny eyes grew wide, her left foot scrambled to keep up with the slide, and her back feet began to slide and scratch in their attempts to keep up with the other directions her poor body was going.

Taking pity on her, I knelt down and spoke to her quietly. She stilled and looked at me quite pathectically and I believe with a certain amount of disdain. After all I did allow her to rush in where angels, and those experienced with slippery surfaces fear to tread. "Kimi, stop." I said, quietly. And she did. "Stay." I commanded. And she did.

I stepped out to the deck carefully so I could pick her up and bring her in. However SHE had other ideas to the fact and as soon as I got close, Kimi tried to run away. She had decided that this was all MY fault and therefore I did NOT deserve to pick her up! Either that or she was going to see if she could get mommy to slip and slide too!

By now Kimi was beginning to get the hang of it all and was moving across the icy deck more or less on tippy-toes, figuring the less of her to make contact to the deck the less of her there was to slip. With her back hunched and her head low, Kimi rose to her toenails and skittered across the floor. Which worked until she tried to round a corner underneath a chair. There the water had collected more and froze thicker than the rest. Skittering on toenails only works on thin ice. With her head still low, her front feet, both of them, slipped and slid to the left. And at the same time her back feet slipped and slithered to the right. Her body twisted and tensed, her eyes grew wide again, and suddenly WHOOSSHH!! All four feet went out from under her and she executed a perfect Bambi like slide on her tummy, twirling out from under the chair. Kimi had a most resigned look to her face at this time, and I was still slithering my way across the deck after her, chuckling to myself and grabbing ahold of all I could too maintain my own upright position.

Kimi still had other ideas, but this time the barest beginnings of a grin was starting to take shape around the corners of her mouth. Uh-oh, I think Kimi was about to discover a new game. I stopped, planted my feet as safely as I could while holding on to a branch over my head and I watched her.

Kimi stood up again, her grin growing and with her nose to the deck floor and her back hunched, she finally figured out if she kept her front feet still, and *hopped* with her back legs only she could infact *push* herself along! Before you knew it Kimi was "puppy-skating" on the ice all over the deck. And loving it!! She took off running as best she could, and as she moved across the deck you could see a new idea forming behind her bright smiling eyes. As she got her speed up, as much as could be allowed on the size of our deck, she lifted her head. This threw her balance off and all four feet went sliding out of control. The next thing I knew, Kimi was belly down and spinning across the icy deck! She had her head thrown back and her huge grin wrapped itself around her tongue as it flew from the corner of her mouth on one tight spin. Once again Kimi had discovered fun in a place most of us never look for it. Now, I can't say I tried what she was doing, but was instead content to take my cue for fun in watching her have her own brand of fun. As soon as her spinning body slowed to a stop, she threw her back toward me and let out a happy "YIP!". Her face was near to glowing with her excitement at finding new fun and she carefully rose to her feet once again. Dropping her head back to the deck, and firmly planting her front feet to the ice, Kimi began her bunny hopping manuvers with her back legs and pushed herself toward a faster speed. Reaching maximum speed for what she wanted to do, Kimi again lifted her head, went off balance and allowed all four feet to head off in opposite directions. Once again bringing her tummy down to the frozen floor and setting herself spinning wildly out of control. As she twirled and slithered her way past me, I had to laugh at her antics. This time Kimi took no offense as she knew I was laughing at her ingenuity and grace in finding fun at even this. Kimi had managed to take her fallen dignity and rise above it to find laughter even on the ice. Her eyes were shining brightly in her joyous excitement, Each time she body came to a slithering stop she would once again rise to the challange and begin again. Maybe some deeper sense told her to take full advantage of this fun for as the day warmed it would not last.

Kimi had even managed to figure out if she hooked a paw around the leg of a chair on her way past it, she would spin around under the chair. I am sure she did this quite by accident, but it only goes to show you that fun, even by accident can still be ...well....fun. As I watched Kimi sliding by me on her tummy and heading straight for the chair leg, I didn't know if I should shout my warning or close my eyes. Before I could decide, Kimi had slid under the chair and accidently , I think, hooked the chair leg with one front paw. Her right one. As she curled that delicate little paw around the cold metal leg, you could see her gripping it tightly. Her eyes grew wide with expectation and as her body slid tightly around the leg of this chair, her grin spread from corner to corner until it met with her eyes. It was about here that I began to wish myself a tiny little puppy like Kimi. I even felt a smidgen of jealousy in her fun, for I knew even if I skated my way around the deck joining her in the wintery fun, I would never fit underneath that chair to spin like she could do. I was NOT even going to try that one!

Kimi on ice. Never again will I walk across the ice anywhere without seeing her little body spinning out of control and her pink tongue flying out from within her huge grin. That picture has been firmly ingrained into my mind and heart forever more. Ice will never again look the same to me.

The point in this letter is not how gracefully one lives their life that is important, for we are all going to slip from time to time. The point is to share with you the need to rise thru your life with a certain amount of caution and dignity, blended joyfully with fun, for without laughter we'll never survive our tumbles.

walk in beauty
Kristi & Kimi