Loving my evenings with the dogs....

On most evenings when I get home from work I am greated by a mass of tail wagging furry joy. Fisher and Darwin have been a wonderful welcoming committee since we arrived in Flagstaff. They are our buddies. They love us and they are happy when we get home. And this makes a big difference when you are brand-spankin' new in a place. On nights when Meg has class, I would take the boys on a run on the trails behind our neighborhood, climbing over and under fences and racing each other through fields of sunflowers (I know this sounds
ridiculous, but there really were fields of sundflowers until it got cold...). On nights when Meg didn't have class, all four of us would go on walks on the trails. A good way to end a day spent in an office or writing papers.

And now we have the puppy and her sweet wrinkled eyes. Our walk schedule has shifted a bit. I get up early so I have time to take her on a walk before I go to work and if no one else is at home, I come home for lunch to take Addy on another walk. Tonight when I got home, all three of the dogs were ready to go, so I tried the 3 dog walk.... It was comical. We were a mass of tangled leashes trying to make our way down the street. Coordinating pit stops was impossible. When we passed another dog who wanted to be friends, I thought someone might get strangled, but we all made it to the woods in our respective pieces. I let the older dogs off their leashes so they could run and wear themselves out a bit. The sun was going down and the horizon was bright red through the Ponderosa Pines. Amazing. We all ran home in the dark and arrived happy and panting. Now all 3 pooches are asleep at my feet. This is a good life.