We took Geordie for a short run in the woods this morning. Just being in the forest is wonderful, but watching Geordie let loose is really joyful.
He loves to run — doesn’t need anything to chase, or another dog; he just likes to run for the sake of running.
He’s the very epitome of joie de vivre.
But I have to tell you, as soon as we turned onto the wider path near the end of the trails his entire demeanour changed. He hung back, walking like a condemned dog. It wasn’t just that the run was almost over — he’s usually fine with that. The problem was that he realized that he was muddy . . . and muddy means B – A – T – H.
He really is a dog who’s too smart for his own good and he’s always half-waiting for the “bad thing” to happen. It’s partly his personality, partly his rescue dog past, but he’s an incurable pessimist at heart.
I must say that this is perhaps one of the reasons I love him so much.
I can so relate to that “living in the moment” to “worst case scenario” emotional seesaw. Especially now.
You should know that we spared him the bath this time. Just a brisk towel off (which he likes) when we got home!
Coincidentally, ever since then I’ve been seeing the Japanese practice of “Forest Bathing” or “Shinrin-Yoku” popping up on my social media, and even in today’s local paper. If you Google the term “forest bathing” you’ll see that everyone from The Globe and Mail to Oprah is talking about it.
