Adventures in Dog Walks

As many times as I take my Daisy Mae for walks in our rural area, most often in the same three directions, she is always so excited.  She seems to find a new adventure each and every time.  She smells new things, and what does that tell her?  I can imagie as I walk the same areas, appreciating the nicer weather, and liking my rural life, she is smelling who or what was in that area since she was there, and who or what passed this or that way.  Today as we walked on the far end of the pond bank, Daisy just went this way and that way.  She alerted me to large tracks at the pond edge and then into the woods.  Oh, it was exciting to see that I was right in my thinking last night.  Late into the night, with the quiet of our area, I was awakened to many howling coyotes, close, I thought, very close.  Yes they were.  My Daisy Dog pointed that out to me in our daily walk today.  She is the investigator, noise to the ground, sticking it in each little snow hole that a squirrel or rabbit makes.  It is fun to watch her discover her world anew each walk.  Now, I also, must take things anew every walk and every day.  Life has so much to offer us all.  Life is given to us new everyday.  I feel blessed to be retired, and have the health, the energy, and the desire to go out into nature.  Enjoying the great outdoors helps me think clearer and feel better also. It gives me time away from household or other pressing issues of things that need to be done.  Also enjoying my dog who is enjoying her walks, helps make for new discoveries, and also some ackowledgement that I do understand some of nature...even that coyotes are closer then usual.