A Night Walk with My Dog
My steps crunch the snow a little. It is strangely melting in the dead of winter. In this tiny village on an Alpine slope, everyone is worried. We’d never seen or experienced Christmas and December nights above zero Celsius. I wear a light wool jacket, not the usual duvet coat that covers me to the ankles. After fifteen minutes of walking, I have to open the zipper as I am warming up. The dog doesn’t show any sign of wanting to return, as he used to do on freezing nights. He loves it.
The shadows and silhouettes of the trees are dancing in the fog, which are probably seen as clouds form below in the valley. I see a glow in the far, behind the shoulder of the mountain. The Ritom lake probably reflects the moonlight that I can’t see directly.
I keep walking for a while, then I turn around. I can’t think. I breathe, listen to some birds and my own steps.
