There's A First Time For Everything (And Sometimes They Suck)

This past week has brought a lot of firsts for me: my first trip to the in-laws without Ritz, my first holiday without him and yesterday, my first hike without him trotting along the trail. Just when I think I'm healing and starting to feel better, it hits me out of nowhere and I feel so sad. No matter how hard I try or how much I write, I still can't find the right words to explain exactly how much I miss him.

As I've said, Charlie is doing a great job of being an only dog. This weekend marked his first solo hike with us and he did great. I actually feel a bit bad that I obviously wasn't giving Chuck enough credit previously because every time he does well at something I'm so surprised and pleased. Since he previously belonged to a transient guy, I'm always a little nervous about letting him off leash. I half expect him to bolt after a squirrel and never return. We hiked about eight miles on Saturday, which was the longest hike we've taken him on.

This was my first big hike of the summer and it felt good. Getting into the woods always reminds me why I live here. It's so easy to get caught up in every day life; grocery shopping, gardening, all that regular stuff. Don't get me wrong, I'm usually glad to do those things but sometimes it's exhausting. Sometimes it's just like "I have got to get away from this house and out of this town" and two hours later I'm standing in a field of wild flowers on the side of a mountain. It's amazing.