I am a city dweller, but am fortunate to live down the street from a forever wild area. This has always been a favorite spot for my dog Shamus. He would run up the hill ahead of me sniffing for the deer or other animals living in the woods and then run back to me as if to say, “Hurry up, you have to see what’s up here”. Well, Shamus has gotten old and we had not walked as far as the woods, as I knew he would be worn out by the time we reached them. Last week I decided he needed to make a trip to the woods at least one last time. I managed to get him into the car and drove him up to the edge of the woods. He had such joy, as he attempted to make his way up the hill. He had a youthfulness to him, that I had not seen in a while. He needed frequent breaks as his back legs have a hard time holding him up anymore, but was happy to sit in the fallen leaves and sniff the air. We didn’t even make it to the top of hill, but I will always remember his joy for that day.
