A couple of weekends ago I went hiking with Justin and Maggie. It's rare that Justin has free time and even more rare that he'd be willing to spend his free time going hiking with me. (what a great son he is!) Maggie (Mark's dog) wasn't originally part of the plan but at the last minute I figured what the hell. We stopped by and picked her up. Maggie loves going anywhere and I do mean ANYWHERE, so she was half way to the car before we even told her where we were going.
We decided to go back to my favorite spot in Granby...of course. I'm still working through quite a few "Allie issues" and going hiking at our spot without her is one of them. I tried jumping a step and going by myself once. BIG MISTAKE as far as I was concerned. There was no pleasure in that trip. I suppose it was a type of therapy but it wasn't pleasant at all and I'm not eager to repeat it.
Being the basic wimp that I am (hard to believe isn't it?) I've been avoiding hiking a lot this year unless I had someone with me. And it's tough for me to ask people to go because its one of those rock and a hard place types of things. I generally avoid them too. So when I finally decided I was going to force this on myself again I was very happy that Justin wanted to go too. Maggie on the other hand is little more than a distraction for me. I've never bonded with Maggie (have I shocked you?) so this was little more than a pity hike as far as she was concerned. I have to be honest here. Maggie is a twit. She has a dogs mentality. I know that sounds odd but it's true. When I look in her eyes I see dog thoughts like "do you have food for me?"..."pet me...come on, pet me!"...."what, rolling in that was bad?"...."why do you keep pulling me back and saying heel?"......"I'm going in that water just as soon as you look away". Maggie is a twit!
The good thing about being a twit and she lives in the moment and this was her moment.
I shouldn't be too hard on Maggie. She's a Chocolate Lab and she's really beautiful. And aren't all labs all about fun? Don't they all look like they're laughing most of the time? And what self respecting Lab would walk calmly by something that smells good if they have half a chance to roll in it instead?
I let Justin handle her most of the way. He's not irritated by her constant pulling and general dog behavior. (he always thinks she's funny) I can't help comparing her to Allie and that does nothing but disappoint me continuously so I gladly let him take her over. But once we got to the river area Maggie could be let loose and she didn't waste time asking for permission to jump in that water. We spent a little time tossing sticks in the water for her and then she nosed around the whole area while we stopped to rest. I had brought some cheese with me so I asked Maggie if she's like some. Stupid me. Maggie doesn't know the word cheese; Allie did. So I gave it to her anyway and continued trying different "Allie words" on her. Not a glimmer of understanding was in those eyes....oh yeah, that's right...I already said Maggie is a twit. But when she's out in the woods, running her legs off and splashing through the river..she's a happy twit. And that's all that counts.
On the way back through the woods we stopped at one of the ranger cabins to take a few pictures. I wish they would allow us to camp overnight in that cabin but it's always kept locked so I know that's not an option. The cabin reminds me of a week long camping trip me and several friends took when I was about 16 yrs old. No adults on that trip. Now THAT was a good time!
Overall it was a good day out hiking with Justin and Maggie. Justin even thanked me for inviting him to go! Wow! And I was thinking I should thank him for babysitting me through another "not with Allie" hike. Maybe it's not as noticeable as I feel it is...maybe it's just all in my head and doesn't show on the outside. But I'm always running memories of previous hikes with Allie through my head every time I go there. This time we had taken the green trail. The last time I had been there was in November of 2008, with Allie and with Justin. It was the last hike Allie ever took but we didn't know it would be at the time. It seems fitting that when it was time to go down that trail again it was with Justin.
And when I'm finally ready to get another little furry baby I'm going to ask Justin to come along again. We'll start all new memories on that green trail. And I will guarantee you my new little friend will know the word cheese. (big smile)
