An unintentional walk

Yesterday it had been almost two full weeks since I’d taken the dogs for a walk, and my Shiba boy was seeming a bit sad and desperate. He paced a lot, and stood and stared at me until it about made me nuts. So I decided to take the dogs for a walk around the block, just to get them out for a bit. Ten minutes, that was all, so I wouldn’t overstress and prolong my cold.

But once I got outside, it was so beautiful, and it felt so good to be ourdoors, and the dogs were so delighted, that I just kept going. I always think of the walks as an obligation to the dogs, but often realize, once I’m out there, that they’re really for me as much as for them.

Walking is good for the body, but even better for the soul. It comes as close to a spiritual experience as I generally get. I’ve tried meditating–sitting, eyes closed, focus on breathing, etc.–but it just makes me anxious. I was relieved to discover that I’m not just weird or spiritually lazy–some people just respond as I do to meditation, and there are spiritual guides who will come right out and say that there are other methods, such as walking, that may work better for some people. So I walk.

The camera has added something to the process. I focus differently, looking for something to take a picture of, which causes me to actively seek out and focus on beauty. I literally see things I wouldn’t have seen before I had the camera. It comes as close the The Power of Positive Thinking as I’m likely to get.

So altogether it was very restorative. I was a bit tired when we got home, but rested, and today the body seems to be making serious headway against the virus, so no harm done. Here are a few pictures I found along the way.

Part of what made the day so beautiful was that a storm had just passed. I love the backside of a storm–the puffy clouds that trail behind the rainclouds, the clean air, sparkling light, clear colors.

Here are a couple of the Shibas.

In this one you can see where the boy’s leg was shaved for an operation. He had a torn ligament in his knee–it had happened in his other leg a couple of years ago, so now he’s had both of them done. This one isn’t healing as well as the first one, but he can walk and run, and that makes his life worthwhile, as far as he’s concerned.

You can also see his tongue out, reaching for some grass. The dogs were all in full grazing mode.

I tried to get some of the poodle too, but he sticks too close to me, except when he’s tearing off a full speed after real or imagined birds–either way it’s hard to get a picture of him.

Here’s the last one.

I thought about calling this post “Signs of Spring”. These mushrooms spring up early on, and don’t last long–you can see one that is already looking a bit past it on the right of the photo. That’s the boy grazing in the background.

After all these years I’m still not used to the fact that spring comes in February around here. It’s another gift of the walks and the camera that I always notice it anyway, even if it does catch me by surprise.