Back in the Saddle Again

When I had written my story about our cruise, I tried to tell the good things about our vacation but left out the fact that both Bill and I returned with terrible colds. In fact, we had been pretty much confined to our cabins for a full day on Wednesday of our cruise and had to cut our Grand Cayman visit short because we felt pretty lousy. Till we were on our way home on Sunday, mine had turned to bronchitis again. The flight back was the most painful flying I had ever done due to the pain in my ears from all of the congestion. Then both Bill and I spent the entire week trying to kick this bug - lucky for him, he was able to sleep all the time but I needed to work each day so when I came home I was right in bed myself. Yesterday was a beautiful, warm, sunshiny day and once again I was spending it in bed. Well, when this morning started out with bright sunshine, I knew that I had to get outside, I just couldn't take another day of laying in bed. Yesterday, when I was catching up on local new boxes, I was heartbroken to read about the loss of Dodge, one of two of Sherry and Lee's boys of the Dogs with Wings team. Sherry had planted two boxes called Farewell to Dodge in Dodge's honor and I decided that they looked to be just the right ones for me today - not too strenuous but definitely much more than a driveby. I got to the Binky Lee Preserve (don't you just love that name) and worked my way around the preserve, agreeing with Sherry that this would have been the perfect place for a dog heaven. The two boxes which are there again show Sherry's mastery of carving and I am very proud to have been the first finder on these boxes and to have them added to my collection.

As I was finishing up at Binky Lee, my daughter called and told me that she was looking for something to do that would get Milkmonster out of the house and running around for a while. She decided that a letterbox might be just the thing to do that. She searched Atlas Quest and LBNA for a while and decided that the best box to look for might just be one of mine! How lucky could I get. I quickly drove to their house and followed them to Hibernia Park to do one of my boxes - Laura's Childhood Luvs - Strawberry Shortcake. This was a perfect park for Out of Sight to move freely without having to hang onto another person or a stroller. She and her guide dog were able to walk without any problems on the graveled trails here. However, because there was a large group of people and dogs in the park training to be Search and Rescue dogs, she did have some complications as she explained to many people that her "working dog" sign on her dog's harness was because she is blind - something which really stunned many people who would never have guessed because of the ease with which she was walking.

Lil Milkmonster and I were hiking partners ( what a terrible thing to happen to me!!!). He quickly decided to commandeer my walking stick and use it to sweep leaves from the sides of the trail on to the trail. Then he would use it to stab leaves and put them back along the side of the trail. Busy, busy, busy. He actually ended up walking almost a half mile on his own before he conked out and had to ride on Daddy's back.

The day turned out to be just what the doctor ordered for me. Time alone in the woods and then time with my favorite grandson - my little letterboxer in training.