Thank you

R wants to thank all of you for your good wishes for him yesterday. After Rimadyl and taking it easier than usual, his limp is less pronounced. We're going to take this one day at a time, and we can change our minds about surgery if we decide that he's living with too much pain.

Probably part of why his elbow is so sore is that our world is a mass of crusty, deep, and slippery snow. We're in the season when trying to walk anywhere is a challenge. There are spots where it's easy before the sun gets warm, like where Shyla is standing in this photo shortly after sunrise. There are probably a couple of feet of snow below her but the top crust is holding her up. In the upper right corner, you can see my tracks where I awkwardly tromped over to to take the photo, falling deep into the snow with each step.

Due to the snow conditions, Shyla and I have been getting out right at sunrise recently because it is the only time when the trails are passable. For Shyla, even off-trail is passable at sunrise because the snow crust is so strong, and she's such a lightweight dog.

This morning, I saw fresh moose tracks so we proceeded with great caution. However, we never saw the moose (or anyone else). It was a peaceful morning with springlike bird songs filling the air. Shyla galloped around happily as I pedaled my fat bike.

So, life looks brighter today. R isn't limping so much, my migraine seems to be gone, and the sun is shining. This whole week is supposed to be very warm so perhaps we'll start to see some bare ground in places by the weekend!