Giving Thanks in the Desert

We spent the holiday of thanks and gratefulness out in the wondrous red rock desert of Utah. After we learned that Shyla could travel, albeit with no running or long hikes, we headed out on her first camping trip. I think that this girl was made for our style of vacation!

It was unseasonably warm - glorious, you might say - in the desert. I rode my bike each day in shorts, and we lounged in the sunshine during the daylight hours.

The one "downside" to winter camping, even in the desert, is that daylight is scarce. I had many hours to learn how to make photos in the dark, with long exposures making mystical looking pictures. Early one evening, clouds blew in front of the setting moon with the backdrop of the still-reddish western horizon.

When we camp, we have time to get to know each campsite in great detail. We learn where the North Star is, and exactly when the sun will rise and set on our temporary home in the desert.

I had fun capturing photos of the stars rotating around the North Star from our campsite near the "Top of the World". My first try was when the sky was still red from sunset. It was hard to see the stars with my naked eye but my camera saw them when its shutter was open for a long time.

Then, I took another one a little later when the sky had turned darker. Can you believe the beauty of our world?

Shyla's leg problems changed our normal camping routine. She was allowed only short leash walks - which we did close to camp. We did a variety of training games during our short walks like stand-stays even when I was tossing objects around her. It was a great opportunity for her to learn to generalize her training to all sorts of locations. With every dog who joins us, I am surprised to realize that they need to be taught that "stand" means "stand" regardless of whether it's in our kitchen, in the forest, or in the desert.

Shyla has vet appointment on Tuesday to x-ray her leg again. If the lesion on her ulna is getting smaller, then we'll assume that it was a mystery injury to her bone (we never saw any injury occur). Alternatively, if the lesion isn't shrinking, we'll be heading for the experts again, for a bone biopsy to look for an infection or cancer. My gut feeling is that it's an injury, perhaps an old hairline fracture that got banged on a rock or something (that scenario was proposed by the vets)... but only time will tell.

I'm trying to be more like a Dog, just like my precious K taught me - and we're making the best of things rather than worrying.

As you'll see as I show you photos from our trip in the coming days, I have many of Shyla and not so many of R. That was because of our odd schedule, where we did a "tag team" routine of puppy-sitting Shyla in camp, with each of us humans going out for adventures on our own. But, don't worry - I have a few good ones of our handsome black lab!

I am so happy that Shyla loves camping as much as the rest of us. I feel sure that we have many adventures in our future!