Thinking of better days on the 1st day of Spring.

The weatherman reminded us tonight that last year on the 1st day of Spring the temperature here was 83 degrees. Then he went on to say that tomorrow morning, on the 1st day of Spring this year the temperature will be 17 degrees when we wake up and not go higher than freezing. Truly, that old groundhog in Pennsylvania has lost his mind to say that we were going to have an early Spring this year. Either that or the townspeople who believe the groundhog have lost their minds.

So while we huddle indoors keeping warm I thought about some older pictures of my baby Rottwiler, Ruffin, and wanted to share them with you.

Here he is on July 27, 2007 when he was only 8 months old. I think that was around the last time I was able to pick him up.

Then on September 1, 2007, Ruff, along with Sassy and Mo, were introduced to our new pet tiger who gave them some concerns until he introduced himself.

September 7, 2007, Ruff paid me a visit in my den and my wife Jackie took this picture.

Just before Valentine's Day 2008, Ruff gave his mom a big hug and a kiss.

Then on March 8, 2008, we had our really big snowstorm and Ruff got his first taste of deep snow. All 14 inches of it when it was finished.

2008 was a busy year for Ruff. He was entered into a national photo contest and became very concerned about running against some little dog owned by a school girl who had gotten her whole school to cast votes on their cell phones. Ruff didn't win but he did make a lot of friends.

And 2008 was also the year in which Ruff met and kissed his first (and only) horse and left him forever fascinated by them. He has sat in front of the TV and watched several horse races since then.

What a brave little Rottweiler Ruff was when he first saw the horses walking toward him in the field.

 Now all he does is lay around the house getting heaps of love from his two humans.

  Spoiled Rotten.

 Click the pictures for a larger view.