I was under strict orders to stay inside all day, and I mostly did it until Zinnia came up to me with that pleading look she has when she wants to go out into the pasture and chase the ball, which we do on just about every afternoon when it isn’t snowing.

I’m really not good at staying inside all day. I get claustrophobic unless I’m writing.

I’ve been told when you have hypothermia; ten minutes is the most your body can handle this much cold. We did fine out there. There are several inches of snow, and when I threw the ball, it either sank into the snow or bounced once or twice and was covered with snow and ice.

The great thing about ball throwing with a Lab is that they never lose track of the ball, and no matter where it lands, she will circle and sniff until she finds it. That is perhaps the only thing Znnia can do that Fate can’t do outdoors. Border collies don’t have Lab-quality noses.

After a few minutes, the snow was crisscrossed with tracks. Zinnia loves this. Her enthusiasm is infectious. She can run out there forever.

This weekend, we are supposed to get one of those Super Nor’easters – snow, wind, ice, frigid temperatures. We’re ready.

After ten minutes of ball throwing, Maria was on the phone, growing at me, and we came inside (five minutes later). I hate to be told what to do, but even more, I  hate it when nobody cares what I do.

I was ready to come in. Zinnia had an excellent workout plowing through the snow, but she just never gets tired in cold weather. “Sorry, girl,” I said, “I do.” This cold exhausts me.

The thing is, I can’t get warm.

This afternoon I gave Maria the first of her birthday presents (her birthday is Friday, her e-mail is [email protected] for anyone who wants to send her greetings, as so many of you did last year.” I gave her a Sake set with a ceramic pitcher and four small cups. and a tea warmer for her studio (I got one for myself too.)

We’ll toast one another tonight with warm sake when she gets back from class.

She is heading out for belly dancing class tonight, and I will continue exploring my photo software masking program.

Thanks to my excellent teacher from Vermont, Andrew Koehler, I’m making real progress with it. I hope to put up my first photo magazine AI photo tonight.

As I hoped, the Leica is transforming my creative life. I’m fusing color and black and white art to make some remarkable new kinds of photos for me. This is hard work for me. Stay tuned.