Today is precious

I had planned on telling you about Shyla's training progress today but I'm too tired. I'll save the training update for Thursday.

Today, I woke up thinking of K. I thought about the biggest lesson that I learned from her in the last parts of her life. That lesson is that today is the only day that matters. Seize it, make the most of it, and don't go to bed wondering if you lived a worthwhile day. Rather, go to bed so tired that you cannot stay awake for another instant because you made the most of every part of the day.

In that spirit, Shyla and I were out for sunrise. I am taking a daily photo of the fiery orb as it crests the eastern peaks. Last year, a reader asked me what date the sun rose exactly between the two tallest peaks in the photo below. I didn't know the answer but I plan to find out this year. It's gradually moving in that direction (north - or left in the photo), and it should get there before too long.

It was a red sun, casting weak light just at sunrise, rendering Shyla very red.

The sun rapidly became stronger, and Shyla did a downward dog toward it.

After the sun was fully up, I practiced recalls with Shyla. I barely talk about these in our training updates because she is so enthusiastic and reliable about them. Despite that, I practice them daily with her, rewarding her with a jackpot for a fast recall. Her face was etched with the effort she was putting into sprinting to me as fast as possible.

Yesterday, one of you asked about the bells hanging from both dogs' collars. The bells serve two purposes. They forewarn wildlife that we are in the area, minimizing the chance of a meeting. We bought dog bells after K chased a bear during a hike about 8 years ago... and that hasn't happened again since we got the bells. The bells also help me to know where Shyla is, especially when she's behind me. I have a section of my neck surgically fused so it's hard to twist my head to look for her behind me.

Part of the reason why we practice recalls incessantly is so that we can call the dogs away from wildlife. Here was another recall from this morning. Shyla took the most direct route to me even though it involved leaping off a boulder.

After a busy day that included socialization training for Shyla in town, I took both dogs for a sunset hike, and they played with utter abandon.

We watched the sun set and the sky light up like it was on fire. I'll save those photos for tomorrow.

And, now I am exhausted. K would be proud of me, for I squeezed every last drop of fun out of this day that I could. Today is the only day that matters.