We're Back!

NOTE: This post originally appeared on my other blog... but after writing it, I thought it was time to revisit this blog, which hasn't been posted to in quite a few months!

"Dogs are not our whole life, but they make our lives whole."~Roger Caras

Being on a somewhat constricted timeline this morning, I could not decide what i wanted to do (exercise-wise) with the roughly hour-and-a-half I had to play with before taking my dog, Gracie, to the veterinarian's for her annual check-up. I have little desire to rush through an ill-planned for run, or get twenty miles out of town on my bicycle with the need to hurry back, so by default, I go with my secret third alternative... Although I have not posted about it here recently, I have tried to make a practice of taking her for a walk every day, either in the morning before going running or in the evening with my wife.

Gracie brings me great joy, and I can sit and watch her interact with her surroundings, be it in the backyard or while on a walk around the neighborhood, and never tire of observing how she engages the animals, birds and people she encounters. (I used to post pics and anecdotes on her blog, Gracie's Crate.) As an English Springer Spaniel, Gracie loves to "play" with the birds and squirrels that frequent our nieghborhood, and being a "city-slicker" like moi, Gracie has plenty of friends to select from when she's looking for a game--although she does heel and stay when directed to (a necessity for walking the streets)!

With these thougths capture Grace and I set out for a brief morning walk (three plastic bas firmly entrenched in my pocket in case of an potential clean-ups) together... and then maybe we'll come home after the doc's and freshen-up her Crate.

WOOF-WOOF!