If you go skiing, then don't forget to take the dog.

My Dad usually took our Poodle, Gigi, with him when he went cross-country skiing.

It's hard to photograph a black dog, unless the dog is running on snow:

Door County, Wisconsin, March 1980. Dad is wearing his beret, and Gigi sports her bright, red coat.

*     *     *     *    *

My paternal Grandmother Tatjana's younger sister, Natasha, enjoyed cross-country skiing, too. She also loved dogs.

Natasha had a Spitz dog. This was a common breed in Eastern Europe; my Mom remembers seeing many in Lithuania. After the "German Spitz" arrived in North America, the breed name changed to American Eskimo Dog sometime around World War I.

It's hard to photograph a white dog when the dog is sitting in the snow:

Russian Soviet Socialist Republic, 1970. Natasha and her Spitz are ready to ski the Russian forest.