“OK, let’s find your sister, Dahlia and go for a walk.” Dallie was stretched out on a patch of sand in the backyard, watching the birds attack the suet feeder and feeling the breezes. She is elderly and arthritic so walks look good on paper but soon become a painful chore.
Alice was glued to my heels as I gathered her collar and leash. When I ran back into the house for my camera, she whined and danced in the garage. There is nothing more exuberant than Alice going for a walk. Her whole body radiates pure joy and she trots with purpose. Dallie’s idea of a walk is to lumber along and sniff every pine needle, peeing to mark her important discoveries. Alice doesn’t stop for anything.
We headed into the woods along a trail that was clear of snow until we ventured deeper. The thick pines shaded the ground and the spring “corn” snow was sparkling like handfuls of glass marbles.
At the stream crossing I knelt to try to capture the light coming through the trees and reflecting off the icy water as it raced by. Alice popped into the frame as I adjusted the focus.
She started across the natural rock crossing only to hit a weak spot in the snow.
This then necessitated the obligatory whole body shake, which, in the case of a Shar Pei, is a lot of skin to move.
I laughed so hard I fell over in the snow and was rewarded with a damp butt. In Alice’s mind the incident was over and wasn’t it just a perfect day for a walk anyway?
Alice looks like she was having a great time of it, face plant and all
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