The Mouse that roared? . . . No, Levi the Dog that Snored!

I’ve mentioned several times now about Levi, my golden retriever who is getting on up there in age . . . kinda like me. So much has gone on here lately with a cold winter, much snow, and all of those little instances that get under your skin during our long winter nights.

Recently a winter gale was plastering the snow horizontally against the large prow windows of our home in Anchorage. It was one of the bigger storms to arrive in Alaska this year and many times big storms bring with it high winds. The howling of the wind was punctuated by the snores of Levi sleeping in front of the fireplace. I was finishing my blog post for the night so I could settle down for a night of much needed sleep. My wife was ‘watching’ a program on HGTV which meant she was asleep on the sofa. It was a peaceful domestic scene in Alaska on a stormy winter night.

Suddenly the peace was shattered by a prolonged scream of sheer terror. I jumped up from my desk at the sudden noise my heart pounded with the sudden rush of adrenalin. My first thought was grabbing my 30-06 rifle which was on the other side of the room. Levi flew straight up in the air from his deep sleep, not an easy task for an old dog with bad hips. He landed with four paws flailing on the floor and stood there shaking with fright, looking totally confused.

What in the world was the danger that was threatening my family in the wilds of Alaska? I ran into the living room and I saw that her face was white as a sheet as she stared in horror out the window.

The roof had decided it was time to dump all of the snow pack that was building up all winter and it had crashed over the side of the house and partly came crashing down on my wrap around deck. More snow to shovel off but plenty more for Levi to make his ‘snowdog angels’. A mini avalanche brought off the roof by high winds and a warm up in temperature, just like on the mountains around us.

It sounded like a semi truck had driven through my living room but the bright side of all this was both my wife and Levi headed off to the bedroom without me trying to move the horde when I went to sleep. Hopefully I will fall asleep before both of them so I can get a good night’s sleep and not listen to the ‘dueling snores’ of my wife and dog.

Times like these I wish I was laying in a Hawaiian hammock with warm gentle breezes. If it had been summer I could say strange things happen 'neath the Midnight Sun but there are many weird things that happen ‘neath the long winter nights here in our Arctic wonderland.

Ice

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