walking

I was driving home last month after a particularly bad year, a "year of Job", as some would say. I was in a new place, and missing friends, and my old dog, and tired of figuring out how to exercise, and wanting to find a way to volunteer and give back, and not sure how to meet new people. Suddenly, it all came together like a burst in my head - walk dogs at the local humane society! I got on their website, not knowing if that was something they even needed, and there, listed under "current volunteer needs" was "DOG WALKERS".

My Mom, who's had both of her knees replaced due to arthritis, has been working toward finishing her goal of walking the entire Rideau Trail in Canada, but lately has been really busy. The other morning, I got up much earlier than usual and decided to take her out to a new section of the Trail. She hadn't had time to walk since before Christmas, so she was so excited! We had a really great time together, despite the fact that we got pretty lost after taking a wrong turn and ended up walking over twice the distance we'd first planned to (a total of about 10 km).