Pan in Winter

It's been a cold, snowy winter in Austria and Pan, like his mama, has found it hard to get up in the morning. But while the human among us have been bundling up in as many layers as will fit under our coats, Pan has faced the cold weather by moving faster and faster. At almost one year old, his body is starting to fill out. Still without an ounce of fat, his muscles flex under his thin coat, especially as he bounds in and out of snow as deep as his chest. Fetching has become an obsession, and no lack of traction on ice seems to keep him from flying after his target. Last summer he played with a border collie mix from time to time, and I was amazed at her speed in reaching the ball. She stops halfway to the destination now; Pan beats her every time.

Our winter excursions with Pan have been within Austria. Vienna sometimes seems trapped in the same grey that always surrounded London. As in England, it's taken some trips outside the city to find the sunshine. In the first week of the new year, we ventured only as far as the Grinzing vineyards. Deep snow had melted slightly, then refrozen, leaving a hard crust on the surface. Pan couldn't quite balance his weight well enough to stay on top of it, and would startle himself by breaking through into powder. Meanwhile, Mike and I both froze our hands trying to catch Pan on camera. Mike pulled off his bulky ski gloves to photograph, while I plunged my hands into the snow to find sticks to hold Pan's attention.

There was a bit less snow when we visited the city of Linz one weekend. Situated farther up the Danube, we had a sunny afternoon to walk around and explore. Since Mike's learning to use his new camera, our pauses for photo shoots sometimes draw attention from passers-by. The coos of "süß, süß" (sweet, sweet) from Pan's puppy-dom have turned into admiring comments of "schön, schön" (beautiful).

Most recently we spent a night in the mountains near one of our favorite restaurants. Pan was thankfully well-behaved at dinner after having enjoyed his best friend Ginger's birthday party in the Prater. The next morning, we took advantage of a sunny, if cold, day and hiked for about three hours on the mountain trails.

This coming Friday Pan will turn one, and while he hasn't been with us for a full twelve months yet, it's amazing how much he's grown and changed since we've had him. In a few more months, if the snow ever melts, we'll have some year-to-year photos to compare.