Kicking off my summer challenge today, we went to Beach Meadows for a walk on the beach. The beach isn’t quite 1.5km long, so we needed to do a little more than one lap of the beach. It wasn’t the warmest of days, but it was still a beautiful day at the beach. Tourist seasons is fast approaching – so I’m not sure how much longer we will have these beaches mostly to ourselves. The one other person with a dog on the beach was visiting from Ontario, en route to spend her summer in Cape Breton.
In the feature image, you can see Scott teaching Cali how to fetch a ball. You’d think it was a bit of a theme – who else can I convince to fetch the ball for Cali?
My semester is about to end. With the end of this semester, I am off until the Fall. I don’t feel like I’ve had a summer off in years, although I don’t think I taught last summer! Anyways, this summer I have wanted to set myself a challenge – something that I could achieve but also something that would help me get out more.
I have decided that between May 1 – Aug 30, I am going to try to do 75 hikes / beach walks. These need to be at least 3 km (2 miles) in order to count. The distance may not seem like much but when you add in the bending over to pick up and throw the ball (for my dog) into the mix that equates to about an hours walk on the beach or through a forest trail.
Now that I have my darling puppy dog – she is so darn cute – had to share a photo.
Anyways, now that I have a dog, I walk regardless of the weather. I try to take her out 3 or 4 times per week to the beach or for a hike. She also gets at least 4 walks per day, at about 1km each. When my hubby is home and healthy, he helps, so I don’t do all the walking. We also send her to puppy daycare twice a week on average, where she gets to play with other small dogs and walks a lot and comes home exhausted. As the weather improves, I hope to get out more this summer.
With this summer challenge, I will plan to also write a quick blog update and share a photo or two of each walk/hike – as long as I remember to take a photo! The trails and beaches here feed me emotionally as well as physically. It will be interesting to see how they are transformed over the summer now that we are likely to have tourists again.
Sunday is May 1st, so I better start planning!
75 hikes/beach walks in 4 months. Anyone want to join me?
Feature image: My friend Sue and Cali running after the ball (or Sue trying to coax Cali into running).
When I’m out walking my dog, I find myself reflecting. I do this several times during the day. I reflect on how I’m feeling. I ask myself, am I happy? and lately the answer has been yes. I’m happy, I’m content.
What is interesting is this the type of reflection that some of my getting over cancer programs was trying to get at. The idea is living in the day and checking in each day. I didn’t get it. Now that I have a dog that needs to be walked several times a day, I get it.
Hitting the seven year mark really made a difference.
Moving back to Canada made a difference.
Spending time with my friends makes a difference.
Knowing that I don’t have to go to the beach alone, or go for a hike alone. I have multiple people I can call who often enjoy spending time out at the beach or as is the case for today out for a ski.
I got out for a 6km ski today. That might not sound impressive, but given that we don’t have groomed trails, it was pretty good. The weather was spectacular. My puppy dog follows along behind me or runs ahead, frolocking in the snow. It is such a joy to watch. A friend joined me, so we spent the entire time talking while skiing. I couldn’t have asked for a better way to spend my afternoon.
I wanted to write this so that anyone reading my blog knows – it is possible to get back to that place of happiness.
