LET IT SNOW, LET IT SNOW!

Last night we knew we were going to get a lot of snow when Channel 10's Doppler Dave issued a Wienie Dog Alert. When the weatherman gives a Wienie Dog Alert in the Texas Panhandle, you know something big is coming down. If you don't pay attention and instead let your little dog go out in the back yard, you may never be able to find him again. All over the Texas Panhandle today, careless people are out there with snow shovels trying to find their wienie dogs.

Sure enough, the ground was covered when we got up this morning, and it was still snowing. And there was no newspaper. We figured the paper carrier had been unable to make it though, but we hoped he would come later. We are dedicated news junkies, so it is a real blow to be deprived of our morning Globe-News. We kept watching, but no paper carrier.

It was still snowing late in the morning, but I felt like getting some exercise so I got the snow shovel out of the garage. I began clearing the sidewalk for the mailman, from the front porch to the street. It was a heavy, wet snow, a little more exercise than I had in mind. But we are tough out here in the Texas Panhandle, and I kept after it. I had almost reached the street when I struck something under the snow with my shovel. Oh, no! A weinie dog? I was almost afraid to look. But I scooped it up, and--hallelujah! The newspaper! The guy must have thrown it out there early, while the streets were still passable, and the snow had buried it.

I'm sure you are wondering about my own little dog, the rat terrier Mickey. Mickey did not like the snow at all. He is a very sensitive dog, and he does not like any kind of inclement weather. I opened the side door for him this morning so he could go out and do his little doggie business, but he took one look at the snow out there and wouldn't budge. He looked up at me like, "What, are you crazy? In THIS?" So I shut the door, and he did this cute thing he also does when it is raining. He trotted through the house to the front door and scratched to go out it. Like he expected the weather to be better over there.

But this time I was ready for him. Ha,ha, Mickey--there you go, right into a big snowbank. He gave me a look of pure outrage, then floundered over to a sheltered spot behind the hedge, and did what had to be done. Sometimes you just have to get tough with them.

Tonight, though, I don't know what to do with him. I just watched Doppler Dave, and he reported we have 12 inches of snow. So I have a problem. What do you do when you have 12 inches of snow and 10 inches of dog?

Guess it's time to break out the snow shovel again. Time to re-clear the sidewalk where it's drifted over since this morning. Time to shovel a path from the door to a bush. That's what we do out here in the Texas Panhandle when there's a Wienie Dog Alert.