Drove around Vermont today, saw some sad stuff, took Lenore into the Merck Forest. What a great dog, what a great companion she is.  We walked for hours, (my feet are sore!) and then I sat and meditated in a cabin we rented for a couple of days. She sat down beside me, and seemed to mediate alongside me. When I walked, she walked, when I sat down, she sat down, and when I dozed in the sun for a half an hour, she rested her feet on my boots.

It was a beautiful day in the forest so quiet. I thought about how far I have come, how far I have to go. How lucky I am to be alive in this world, and to have the opportunity every day to have a meaningful day. Every act of creation, every word I write, every way in which I love Maria, every photograph I take, every animal I get to know is an affirmation of life and its promise and possibilities. What a gift to walk in the beautiful woods with a great dog. Tomorrow Maria and I are hiking back into the Merck Preserve for most of the day.