Smiles

I've had a rough couple of days. We caucused here on Tuesday night. I stayed up too late, thanks to the caucus (and my vote didn't really matter, in the end). Then, I got a migraine yesterday due to the change in my sleep pattern. Today is "migraine hangover" day. To get myself perked up a little this morning, Shyla and I took breaks from our bike ride for fun games.

I have discovered that any game that involves Shyla catching treats leads to facial expressions that make me laugh. She seems to love the games so it's a win-win.

Balancing and then flipping five treats was an almost impossible task. Shyla was great at balancing the treats...

... but they went flying wildly when she tried to flip them into her mouth.

I decided to be nice and give her only one small treat to flip in the air. Unfortunately, it was lighter than she expected and ended up directly above her head. Look at her eyes!

She learned this trick with much heavier cookies. She can easily flip one heavy cookie and catch it. So, I put two on her nose. She succeeded in catching one!

Those photos definitely made me smile. I needed that!

After our ride, I was flipping through some photos from near the winter solstice. At the solstice, there is no ridge between us and the spot where the sun rises. Consequently, we see the most incredibly intense red sunrise rays that make Shyla glow.

That's why Shyla and I get on the trails in time for sunrise almost every day all winter long! Now, winter is dwindling, and our sunrise rays are not so intense, thanks to a ridge to our east. I miss those intense sunrises!