As I'm settling in for a snowy mid-February '07 winter weekend of skiing and hiking in the North Carolina High Country, I'm reminded of a major lesson I learned last winter while hiking with a friend and her dogs. Losing two dogs in a blizzard was quite an experience.

I love dogs-I just wrote a magazine article touting the pet shrines dog lovers can visit worldwide when they can't take their pups with them (www.hemispheresmagazine.com, click on "Past Hemi," choose January issue, then "UpDates," and scroll down to "Doggone Devotion").