Monday Forest photo: January 9, 2012

12:30pm 2C cloudy

The last couple of days have been glorious in Monday Forest: bright, reasonably mild and hard-surfaced. Our neighbour has been over the trails with his snowmobile, packing down the snow and providing almost a sidewalk to walk on. I can hardly recall enjoying my walks more and that's saying a lot. Mind you, my week was hijacked by a very nasty stomach virus which laid me low and kept me out of the woods until yesterday. It was a joy to get back out with Meg.

My little adventure in illness gave me a new appreciation for our town's amazing emergency room service. Within ten minutes of leaving home, I was triaged, examined and iv'd. I spent the night and left in the morning - nausea under control and rehydrated (I left out the grislier parts of the story). All at no cost, I might add (for the benefit of any of my American readers who doubt it's possible to receive quality, timely medical care in Canada).

I was also reminded that I am not nearly as sturdy as I think I am, and that my previous good health may have been as much luck as right living. So, humbled and recovering, I resumed my daily walks.

I had to include Meg in the photo this week, because today is her third birthday. If it's true that a tired dog is a happy dog (and I believe it is), then Meg had a great day.