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22 May ~2008
When I go on walks I have to put Maggie in a large dog crate, since she is still recovering from her acl surgery. If I would let her overexercise, it could rip out the pins and the surgery would have to be repeated. Last night it was so nice I took her crate out to the backyard so at least she sit in the paradise of green grass and shade trees, and listen and feel the warm breezes come through the yard.She takes it well, quietly, when me and Ben go in the house and out the front door for our Green Belt walk. Maggie is such a loyal , loving little dog. She figures that whatever I have decided for her, it is the best thing.
I will never forget the time a few years ago that us three sat in our little tent above timberline in the midst of a terrifying lightning storm. Lightning was hitting very close, shaking the mountain we were on. I had to punch the inside of the tent to keep the hail off. Me and Ben were both very frightened, for good reason. Maggie was as calm as could be, I think because if she is near me she feels safe.
I had to stop taking her in the pasture at horse rescue, because she wouldn't move away from the horses like Ben did. Instead she just came closer to me. I wouldn't be able to do much if an 1,000 pound horse stepped on her, not matter what faith my little girl has in me.
And there is why I love dogs. They will not get bored and go looking for something better. They remain forever content and happy if they are by my side, as long as they and I are on this earth. There are many kinds of love, but that is what I call true and genuine love.
Golden Banners (Thermopsis) are in bloom on the Green Belt, as are Dogwood and Viburnum, Honeysuckle and Star Solomon Plume (Smilacina, in the photo above). Me and Ben took a long, slow walk, pausing to watch a female Red Wing Blackbird work on their nest, and then the evening sun break through the clouds.
Today I had a nature program, which went well, except some of the children didn't pay as much attention when I was talking as they should. I do the best I can but stop short at yelling at them. What works is to move close to the children that are talking and ask them to please listen. I am not a huge disciplinarian about it, just hope they get something out of the program at some point on our trail.
It started hailing while we were on the hill and we had to take refuge under some low pines. The hail stopped after five minutes and in twenty more minutes the sun was out. Just about that time a massive Tornado was moving off the plains towards the mountains (northwest instead of the usual northeast), and passed over Windsor and Greeley.
I have two nature programs tomorrow and a couple more next week, then I am going to take a break for a while from volunteering, as I typically do in summer. Normally I would go backpacking a lot, but we are so busy at work it doesnt look like I will get to do that as much as I had planned. Damn. - pretty tough to take just as the backpack season is approaching. Quitting is an option I have thought about, since it is pretty hard for me to stay away from the mountains in summer. I could retire at any time with full benefits.
Instead though I might just lose myself in the project we are doing. Eventually it will be all done and a success, and I will get out again. It would be much harder if I didn't love what I am doing so much - coding in javascript and java for html presentation. (my job is computer programming, and has been for 30 years. I have worked at the same office for 25 years).
I am not going to let myself get soft though, just because I am stuck in the lowlands. On every walk on the Greenbelt I carry my 40 pound pack (rounded up, actually it is 37 pounds). That will keep my legs and back strong for when I can head up to timberline again.
At least my time down here is temporary, God Willing. There are some that go through a whole year, and the next and the next, remaining near concrete and city lights and computers and televisions and cellphones. They think that is what life is all about, and I guess it is, for them. I am different - don't feel like I am living unless on a regular basis I can wake when the stars are fading from the sky, listen to the birds sing in the morning, and hear the holy silence.
Maybe I will have to find a way to get up there this summer, project be damned.
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