Dogs and Walks

My dogs refuse to let a morning pass without taking me out to the woods for a run. Let’s be clear: they run, I walk. At home if I dilly-dally they’ll pace, whine or bark until I throw on my shoes and head to the hills. If I’m being a particularly annoying human and insisting on coffee before the run, then the Young One (Zoë, pictured above) will begin to steal-her preferred items being my socks or shoes. As if she’s making a point: here are your shoes, here are your socks, I’ve got them all ready for you so let’s go, woman!

I think they are onto something. Even when the mornings are dark and grey or cold and blustery, I always feel better after our morning walk. Fresh air infused with the energy of nature is one of the best healing tonics I know. Movement in my body replaces stuck thoughts with forward motion. My always-tending-towards-anxiety patterns become dispelled as the chickadees twitter in the pines above our sandy path. It’s hard to be a grumpy human when I see their joy romping up a hillside, hard to get stuck in worry while the river birch patiently drinks the morning sun. 

So my dogs refuse to let a morning pass without taking me out to the woods. Their wisdom surpasses my own, and I am grateful.