Sunday, June 22, 2014

Bittersweet

Because today's workout was to be aerobic only I eschewed the gym and took my best old hiking, jogging, and therapy buddy and squirrel chaser extraordinaire for a hike in Northwest Park in Windsor, CT.

This picture was taken about 4 years ago.  My boy is grayer now, but then so am I.

But it used to be that I would say "want to go for a DRIVE, Jesse?" And he'd leap up, tail wagging.  The tail still wags, but leap is a slower maneuver.  So is getting into the backseat of the car.  I had to give him a leg up.  He still yodels as loudly as before, making the people we pass laugh hysterically.  And his jump from the car is still pretty spry.

But we used to take the harder trails.  He would run ahead, and traverse the path following scents.  And he would turn to look over his shoulder with an expression that clearly said "Can't you go faster than that?"  I didn't take him nearly as often as I should, work and 3 bad knee injuries got in the way, but I could have done it more often than I did.

Today our roles were reversed, just a little.  We did one of his favorite trails, the bog and Braille trail, but I slowed my step to match his,.  I could see he wasn't up to swinging over to the wetland forest and rainbow reservoir trails as we have so many times before.  We took an easier path, and then sat beneath a tree in the meadow.

Now, he did have a busy day yesterday, and he doesn't rebound as fast as he used to (but then, neither do I, and I can hear his deep voice saying to me, yeah mom, if you were a dog you'd be dead by now!), so that explains a lot.

And while I miss the puppy he was I adore the grand old dog he is.  Funny, people loving, always expecting the best in the people he meets and seeing me as I should be, not necessarily as I am.

 So we will go for walks in the woods until he makes it clear he'd rather stay home.  And I will happily match my pace to his.


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