I awoke this morning to Dave whispering, “wow. beautiful sunrise.” as he turned over and went back to sleep. It was 5:30am. The sky was hinting of a promise of bold magentas and oranges for this morning’s viewing pleasure. I grabbed my camera and headed out with the pups for a hike on the property only to be turned back halfway because the coyotes were yipping just a little too close. They were warning us. They had not finished their hunt and the land was not ours yet. Not for another hour. Go back home.

So I came back to the house and took last nights laundry from the washer and hung it up on the clothesline as the sun was starting to peep over the mountains. The new day was starting.

Feeling anxious, I left a sticky note on the teapot for Dave and grabbed one of my bikes and headed down the driveway in the highest gear forcing me to push harder on the pedals to release my built up energy. I road over the bumps and bunny hopped over potato rocks in the driveway. I raced through the sprinklers from the alfalfa fields of the organic farm. The cold beads of water hit my skin with a jolt and I pedaled faster to warm up and dry off. It was a welcoming morning shower. I made my way through the empty streets of downtown Saguache dodging cats who seemed to be heading home after a night of shenanigans. I waved at a little old lady dressed in a knee length light blue coat and a sheer scarf around her head.

An hour later, I arrived back home only slightly worn. Dave was up and making his rounds. Watering the garden. Making coffee. Feeding the dogs. Again. I forgot to mention on the post-it that I had already fed them. They have a short memory. Or they choose not to let on. Even the cat was in on it.

After a breakfast of two hard boiled eggs and green tea, we decide to hike a trail in the Sangre’s. We were all ready to get outside and romp. We had mostly stayed by Mozart’s side. No real hikes of any distance. No games of fetch. We were all feeling the need to release energy. Should we take Mozart? How was he on the hike earlier? Did he keep up with the other two?In the end, Mozart made the decision. We opened the back of the truck and lifted ZoeGirl and Martin up. We asked Mozart if he felt like it. Sometimes he says no and sometimes he says yes. His no is a simple about face into the house without looking back. Mozart is a peculiar dog. Sometimes he just wants to be left alone. This morning he was on the fence about the whole thing. But in the end he said yes.

And off we went.

The trail was everything the guidebook promised. Streams, flowers, wildlife. We saw a small garter snake and a baby owl. Martin and ZoeGirl have been on this trail. They show Mozart the ropes. How to balance precariously on the fallen logs that lie across the swift streams. Mozart learned after the first crossing that the water was too cold and too fast to swim.

About two miles into the hike, my trusty 16 year old Lowa Leather boots bit the dust. So we turned around and came home.We spent the rest of the day making sushi and listening to Miles Davis.