Back into the woods

I'm so tired that I actually tried to nap this afternoon. My shoulder hurts, my feet hurt, and I never felt so good. The only being as happy as me this evening is probably Bailey. What accomplished this seemingly contradictory miracle? A four mile walk in the woods. 

Friend/neighbor Jan offered to let us tag along on one of her walks this morning. I was thinking cautiously and suggested that we just do the two mile walk on the roadway at Pleasant Grove -- flat, even surface, easy walking. But providence intervened in the form of a police blockade that had traffic stopped on Rt. 53. Our plans pulled a quick pivot and we pulled into the Fluvanna library and started at one of the trailheads behind that parking lot instead. That proved to be providential in a couple of ways. First, the sun was too hot to be walking out in the open. The shade made for a much more pleasant experience. Furthermore, the simple experience of being in the woods was incredibly therapeutic. 

I hadn't been out for a hike since sometime before our trip to France. The last walk I took was before the trees and shrubs had fully leafed out. It was wonderful to see the woods fully greened up, from the trees overhead to the ferns underneath. Walking is energizing. We got started and I just wanted to keep going. We didn't break any speed records; in fact we really slowed down the pace when even Bailey showed signs of being tired, and we chose routes that kept us under the cooling cover of the trees as much as possible. We even made a point of visiting Sparky's watering hole, but she wouldn't take a drink or even touch the water. She's a dryland dog but she sure does love our walks. From the moment I put the Gentle Leader on her this morning, she was happy because she knew we were finally going on a walk once again. 

We both napped this afternoon but not enough to interfere with what I anticipate to be a good night's sleep tonight. My shoulder is sore this evening just from being jostled around in the course of the hike, but overall I feel better than I have in weeks. 

Black dogs and buttercups

Black dogs are beautiful, but they are tough to photograph and even tougher to get adopted. One thing that helps with the photographs at least is the green grass and buttercups of spring. 

Ted is our current foster black dog and I think he is being overlooked by many potential adopters because he's just a plain, black dog. But Ted is crate and house trained, he's good with other dogs, he sticks to you like glue, comes when called, and is just an all around great dog, a really nice boy. 

I've written about the black dog problem many times, often with pictures showing just how stunningly beautiful they are, especially against a background of green spring grass and yellow buttercups: 

Black dogs I have known and loved (some of them)

Black dogs, green grass, and buttercups

Black dogs and green grass

The fab five

Most of these posts feature two of my favorite pictures of black dogs, showing Gigi and Felix.

Dash comes to visit

I'm not doing much boarding this year, but Dash is only here for three days. He's a former foster, from back in December 2020. He flew into the Charlottesville airport on a private plane from North Carolina. When he arrived here as a foster pup named Dasher he was The Twelfth Dog of Christmas, because he brought our total dog count up to 12. A lot has changed since that time and today he only brought our total up to four. 

He spent some time in Daneland with Bailey and Ted and then we all went out to the pasture for a good run. After that he came indoors to a crate in my office while we went to town. A little more outdoor time in the evening and then it will be back in the crate for the night, keeping Ted company in the office.

He seems like an easy keeper and indeed he was when he boarded here in the past, which is why I agreed to take him for this short time. I don't need a difficult dog at the moment.

A little bit of spring

Spring happens whether or not I'm participating in it. We were in France when the greening happened. The trees leafed out that week but we got back in time to see the azaleas in bloom. Here at home the daffodils and redbuds were finished when we returned but now the buttercups are coming out. They are probably my favorite spring wildflower and we have an abundance of them in the lawn and pasture. 

I walked around the house today and found the spirea in bloom, and out front, the clematis I planted last year have come back strong and are blooming nicely. 

I can't drive so I'm not going anywhere to walk, but I have walked out to the pasture with the dogs a few times on the last couple of days. 

Bailey remains my constant companion, tolerating my lack of activity even if she doesn't quite understand it. Ted is due to meet someone this coming weekend. Candace apparently developed a urinary tract infection when we were away and was incontinent that whole week. She was the first day back here too, but I started her on an antibiotic and it cleared up quickly. 

Bored and bald

My rotator cuff is repaired, along with some torn tendons of the bicep on my right arm. It all seems to have gone well and I was home by early afternoon on Tuesday, the day of the procedure. The nerve block wore off overnight but I had started the pain meds before bed and am staying on them religiously. I foresee my biggest problem as being boredom. I can't do much of anything with my right arm other than type with the arm supported by the desk. Even opening the pill bottles is difficult. I'm learning to do more and more with my left hand to the extent possible. 

I'm accustomed to being pretty busy, particularly lately, and I've never been good at doing nothing. Bailey has been my constant companion and she's sticking to me closely even though I'm not a lot of fun right now. I have set up camp in the guest room, splitting my time between the bed and the recliner that we moved upstairs (thanks, Paul!) When I'm in bed, Bailey presses herself up against my left side so I can't roll to the left. The sling device they have on my right arm and shoulder prevents me from moving to the right. My sleep schedule is off, but I did get a few hours of sleep last night between the bed and the recliner. 

I buzzed all the hair off my head before the surgery because I remember the difficulty I had washing my head in the shower after my initial injury back in January. I bought a cheap pair of faux Crocs that I can get on my feet without needing to use my hands or arms. I had prepared a couple of weeks worth of food last weekend too, so we really have everything I could think of to get through this as easily as possible. I was able to feed the dogs myself this morning, but of course I'm very lucky to have Clay to do everything that requires two hands around here.