You remember Gizmo, right?

For those who are new to the list or don't remember the story, I introduced him in Cliffhanger 2

Don't worry...he is fine.

But on New Years Day, Mary and I decided to go snow shoeing. For those of you who are receiving this from out of state, picture the woods of Maine... snow gently falling, crisp air filling our lungs as we snowshoe past moose and other woodland creatures.

You guys from Maine--don't tell them it was 46 degrees and the foot of snow we got last week was slush and mud. Truth be told, we could have gone in our boots, but Santa brought me snowshoes and darn it, I was using them on January 1st!

Now our 4 dogs are trained to go into the bedroom with the command "house".  Gizmo, being the wisest of the group, pretty much stays in there as not to have to get up and go into another room. He is now coming up on 13 and despite the acupuncture, meloxicam, fish oil and glucosamine, has some trouble getting up.

But he loves a romp in the snow, so I went in to the room and asked him if he wanted to go for walk.

A moment to explain Gizmo's vocabulary:

Go for a walk-Most exciting thing you can say

Ridey in the car--Close second

Spoon--Flop beside Dad

Sit--obediently sits

Down--Ignores me

House--I told you that one...he's one step ahead of me

Gizzy Come (inside)-eager arrival on single command

Gizzy Come (outside)--ignores me

I know that we are not going to win any obedience medals, but I can get him to dance like a circus bear with the Go for a walk thing.

So he whined as we figured out the snow shoe buckles for the first time. In a few minutes we were off.

Now snowshoeing is really just hiking with really funny looking shoes.  As long as its a hike, Gizzy is in. He loves smelling the bushes and chasing imaginary ( I think) squirrels.

He found some deer feces. You'd think he hit the lottery.

As our trip continued I noticed that he began to slow down.  Osteoarthritis is chronic inflammation of the joints....he has it. It can be caused by many things, but one of them is age.  He doesn't walk around on his knees, but he has a few years on me. The 1 dog year is equal to 7 human years is not so accurate....I used this comparison chart to figure that he is probably in his mid 70's.  Poor old guy .

So we turned around a little early. But I was reminded that getting out in nature makes us feel rejuvenated.  Seriously, this is one of those things that just seem so simple, and yet give so much pleasure.  Once again...Gizmo reminds me that its the simple things that make the most difference.  I don't know exactly what goes through his mind when I say "Go for a walk?" but I have a pretty good idea.

Today I took down the tree and all the beautiful ornaments at the clinic. Thank you to all who braved the emotion of making an ornament and hanging it on our tree this Christmas. I brought Gizzy along and he layed on the bench and watched. At one point he was sniffing the box while I was wrapping the ornaments in newspaper.

When I finished loading the box I brought it down into the cellar. Gizzy stayed on the bench.

It took me awhile to get up the stairs.  I guess Gizmo wasn't the only one paying for the romp in the woods.

I'm kinda glad that he doesn't have more of a vocabulary.

Yesterday in the woods, I'm thinking I wasn't the only one thinking.....

"Poor old guy"