Forever Young

I participate in a daily dog photography group, and today's prompt was "Forever Young". It seemed to resonate with some of the feelings that I had during our desert trip. No one is "forever young" unless they die young, and that feeling was fostered by how much I missed K during our trip.

All of us veteran dog lovers know that the days of young puppyhood are fleeting even in a dog who lives a full and long life. Before you know it, your puppy is grown up and beginning to "age". And, far too soon, you must say goodbye to your "puppy", after their life has sped by at warp speed.

I thought about the fleeting nature of life frequently during our trip because we visited places that where K had visited as a small puppy and then many times during her life. I have so many memories of K in those places that visions of her dance before my eyes when I'm there.

Yet, at the same time, Shyla is in those fleeting and wonderful days of being a seemingly indestructible young dog, who wants to run all day and acts naively goofy. These are the "good old days" for Shyla - the days of romping with no pain and boundless energy. She is young but no one is "forever young".

So, for today's "Forever Young" photo, I took one that had Shyla's bright eyes burning out of the pine forest's shadows around sunrise this morning. The shadows represent the dark side to the notion of "forever young" while her eyes and happy expression show that she is truly young.

Throughout our desert trip, Shyla and I mountain biked together most mornings, having a blast exploring places new to Shyla. Here was our gear lined up just before a ride one morning.

Shyla wears K's old boots, which we discovered are too big for Shyla's paws (literally but not figuratively). They look like clown shoes when Shyla gallops in them so we'll be buying her a new set before our next trip.

She and I explored the nooks and crannies of red rock canyons in the mornings before it got too hot. Shyla adored hopping up on boulders and "posing".

I didn't let her run all day, although she would have loved to. I took longer jaunts on my own, while Shyla hung out in camp with the boys. This photo is from one of my long rides, up to a big butte that is shaped like a ship. My bike looks like a tiny toy.

Then, we'd hang out in camp for the afternoon. When we spend a lot of time relaxing in one spot, we tend to notice the cool nature stories going on around us. At this campsite, a pair of Red-Tailed Hawks had four nestlings stashed in a hole in the cliff wall opposite our camp. I didn't have a strong enough lens to photograph the actual nestlings but we could see four small white chicks through our spotting scope.

The parents would hunt in the canyon nearby. One parent liked to sit atop a spire on the cliff's highest point.

We were there for a few days. Most days, the parents would make numerous small kills throughout the day, bringing them back to the nest to tear apart and share with their offspring. However, on one day, a parent killed something much bigger, perhaps a hare, and the family spent all afternoon eating it.

We watched hawks raising young in the same hole a year ago. However, the chicks were much bigger, and there were only two. Last year, the chicks would execute a scary maneuver to relieve themselves, hanging their tails over the edge of the hole to avoid soiling the nest. We'd hold our collective breath hoping that no one fell out from their hole about 300' above the ground. This year, the chicks weren't ready to do that maneuver yet, and their parents were still disposing of their waste.

After watching nature for the afternoon each day, we'd go for an evening hike, enjoying the coolness of the approaching sunset.

Then, we'd watch the sun and then the moon set to the west of our campsite. The moon was a tiny sliver but the rest of the moon glowed softly, making a beautiful sight. A bright planet hovered just above it.

I think that our love of taking adventures around the west partly stems from the fact that we know that none of us is "forever young". We all want to make the most of the "good old days", and each day of vacation is one. Although my heart literally hurt at times because I missed K so much, I threw my spirit into young Shyla and older brother R, letting them live their young days to the fullest.

You only live once.