The last time I attempted a mid-morning walk, I was taking care of my grand-dog, Minnie. Now, if you know anything about Jack Russell Terriers you'll know that they have more than a little bit of energy. A daily walk and lots of exercise is the only way to keep them under control and Minnie loves her walks. If you even spell the word walk, she'll go get her leash and stand by the door. Seriously, she knows that W-A-L-K spells walk. She also recognizes that a walk might be in store if you just put on your tennis shoes. This dog loves to walk.
Fast forward to the middle of June when Grams took Minnie for a walk at around 10 o'clock one morning. As usual, Minnie was excited. She started out prancing down the sidewalk and straining at the end of her leash for Grams to walk faster. By the time we had walked two blocks, her gait had slowed and she was not so excited. As we walked our third and fourth blocks, Minnie slowed significantly and even stopped any time we came to a shady spot. In the fifth block we came to a yard with a huge shade tree. Now, I'll be the first to admit that it was hot and the shade created by the tree felt really nice. Minnie seemed to agree, because she just walked into the grass, plopped herself down in the shade and would not take another step. Seriously, she was hot and tired and would not be moved. After standing there holding the leash for a few minutes, Grams realized that Minnie was done and was not going to walk another step. So after a few minutes of tugging on the leash and coaxing, Grams ended up picking Minnie up and carrying her the five blocks back to the house. Minnie spent the rest of the day sleeping on the sofa.
Since then Grams has not been able to muster the energy to walk during the scalding hot days of this South Texas summer. But starting tomorrow, October 1, Grams will be back on the streets.
Tomorrow, I start training to accomplish one of my long time goals. On Sunday, October 18, Grams is going to hike Enchanted Rock, a granite dome located between Fredericksburg and Llanno with Katy + Travis. I have wanted to hike it since Grandad and I visited there about five years ago. I have heard my kids talk about hiking there for several years now and always thought it was something I could never do. But now I can.
I have been assured by K+T that they will slow down enough to hike at my pace. I have been instructed to find a hilly place to train. Remembering that I'm a flat-lander, for the next two weeks I'll be spending my mornings at Hilltop Nature Trail and Hazel Bazemore Park, the nearest things to hills anywhere in South Texas.
I can't wait until I can post that "Grams Made It" all the way up Enchanted Rock.
