Ever heard of the winter blues? Well, I’ve got them. The end of winter always seems to drag on at these northern latitudes. Everyone, except a winter sports buff, is tired of snow and cold by the end of February. I’m no longer fond of winter sports. The closest I come to participating in a winter sport these days is to sit in front of a warm fire and watch hockey on television. Unless you count the daily walks with my dog Al.

Al doesn’t care about the seasons. Not when it comes to his favorite pastime, going for a walk. The fresh snow that had fallen overnight didn’t bother him at all. It bothered me. A lot. Even after all these years of living in Michigan, I still have a hard time accepting the truism – Spring will come when it comes.

Winter blues or not, it was soon obvious that Al wasn’t going to let me sit and mope until he got his daily walk. He was dancing in front of the door even before I had shrugged into my coat. As soon as I’d pulled on my boots and grabbed his leash, we were on our way.

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Today's weather was bearable, for February in Michigan. The temperature was around 27°F and the air was calm when Al and I headed out for our walk. Our neighbor, Beau, who you met in an earlier diary, must have been craning his neck to see us as soon as possible. He practically sprinted out of his house before we even reached his driveway. Something was obviously up.

I've known Beau for a few months now, ever since he moved here from Mississippi. I know him well enough to recognize when he's wearing a smug grin. It didn't take long to find out what had put it there.

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Walking the dog is, in some ways, very similar to being a mailman. Neither rain, nor snow, nor sleet… Well, maybe not quite the same. Rain and sleet will keep me indoors. Snow, on the other hand, is not a problem for someone born and bred in the north country. It’s not a problem for my buddy Al, either.

Al has some Husky in him. It shows in his brilliant blue eyes and his thick undercoat. He’ll romp in the snow for hours without showing the slightest discomfort. At least, he used to when he was younger. Nowadays, he’s more like me. A slow, rambling walk is good enough. Even when we have 8" of fresh snow like we had this day.

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The first thing I noticed this morning when I ended my one-week voluntary vacation from politics is that the world didn't end this past week. In fact, it seems to be spinning around just as it has for billions of years. What a relief.

One week ago, the Left was in extreme disarray. With the loss of Ted Kennedy's senate seat, health care reform seemed dead. The president seemed to be on the ropes. Many on the Left, led by the firebaggers and PUMA crowd, were ready to start calling for impeachment. One short year into President Obama's administration and the Left seemed ready to throw in the towel. Oh, woe is me.

I don't want to give the wrong impression here. The Left had plenty of reasons to lament. I was feeling pretty down myself. But that's not why I decided to take a vacation from politics. I decided to take a vacation because I could sense that I had lost perspective.

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The last two years have been quite a ride. The beginning of that two year period started in January, 2008. Super Tuesday was fast approaching. I was still a nominal Edwards supporter, although I had been leaning towards Obama for a while. I got on board after Super Tuesday. That’s when the real primary battles heated up. They stayed like that until Clinton conceded in June. Then we had to deal with the PUMA backlash. Time that should have been spent on kicking into general election mode was spent on repairing party unity. The Democrats were still dealing with bruised egos when Palin burst on the scene. Things got really nutty after that.

The Moose was born out of that perfect storm of politics. The first diaries were posted on motleymoose.com about two months before the election. We agonized over every drop in a poll. We clapped with glee when things went our way. And, we watched the flameout of the ex-Governor of Alaska. Fun times, indeed.

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