Happy Place

Daily Note

Every day, a photograph, a poem.

Today we walked at Crescent Bay on Lake Roosevelt again, but this time we walked up the hill towards the other side of Crescent Bay Lake. The picture above is looking back towards Grand Coulee Dam and Crescent Bay on Lake Roosevelt. The picture below is a brief view of Crescent Bay Lake:

I think this is Guthrie’s favorite place to walk. We spend 40 – 60 minutes on our walks, and here, when no one else is there, we can let the dog run and sniff to his hearts content. I just learned today how important it is to let a dog have a “scent walk,” just allowing the dog the freedom to develop his scent skills; it puts them into a “happy place.” [PETMD and Outward Hound]

Luckily, almost all of our walks allow Guthrie the freedom to meander through the sagebrush, sniffing away. [Note: we wash his face when we get home. LOL, and true]. I’m glad this makes Guthrie happy because these walks with him make us happy too: watching his different gaits with his fluffy hair flowing and fluffing is so refreshing to watch; we’re so glad he’s happy.

One of the first things we noticed about him is how he walks, actually ambles next to us on his leash. He obviously had some training. Off the leash he starts out a bit faster, called a pace, and you can see he’s using his nose to sense what’s around him. He trots, lifting his paws –opposite front and hind limbs moving forward together, just like you see a horse do. His hair just wafts up and down with each bounce. It’s beautiful. And when he lopes and gallops, he’s so graceful and powerful. It seems like he is just free and happy. It’s easy to see the difference because he’s so large bounding through the grasses and sagebrush. It brings us as much joy as it does him.

And so a poem…

Poetry

Happy Place

He walks and ambles
then picks up a pace
nose in the air
for scents he finds
and trots along the road
for just the right smell
then lopes through the sagebrush
until he finds the source
and sniff-walks,
nose to the ground,
seeing the world
sensing the world
in his happy place

Sheri Edwards
12.10.23 342.365.23
Poetry/Photography