Changes

One of the gifts that has been bestowed on me since K's death is a deeper friendship with R. Although his heart will always belong mainly to the Runner, R has taken on a new role in my life. He sits close to me whenever I'm home alone, and he looks at me with a depth of spirit that I've never seen from him before.

During our trip to Southwest Colorado, I spent some time playing training games with R every day that I could muster the enthusiasm for it. One training game was teaching him a calmer "stay". You can see his calmness in this photo next to a lake where we camped for one night.

Even when enticing scents wafted his way, he stayed for me albeit with his nose high in the air.

It was the only night that we've spent in an organized "campground" in a very long time (we prefer camping in out-of-the-way places) but the views of the lake were well worth the tradeoff of being close to other campers.

The lake became even more beautiful as the sun began to set behind lingering thunder clouds.

I showed you the full orange and pink sunset over this lake yesterday. Mother Nature is an incredible artist.

And, of course, when a Lab like R is close to water, you know what happens. This is my black and white photo for this Sunday.

As my friendship with R is evolving, I find myself wondering whether he's going to be happy to "share" us humans when a new dog inevitably joins our family sometime in the future. R has taken on many of K's former roles - simply by being my nearby companion almost all the time. He's also become an enthusiastic snuggler, seeking out opportunities to cuddle up close to me, a new personality trait for him. Although I wish with all my heart that K was still here, I do love the new side of R that's emerging.