Thaw

I intended my next blog entry to be titled "Depression, Aggression, Regression" - all of which have been recurring themes in the life of Urban Adventure Dog and Olivia Sage over the past two wintry weeks. But then, I decided on "Thaw."

The inspiration for this change was a hike we took this morning at Chase Farm in Lincoln, Rhode Island. It's a place we go often. Especially this winter, it has served as a source of inspiration. It's a public place, but you can tell that a long time ago it was someone's farm. Shamus and I walk the perimeter, and I imagine that it's my farm - that it's our responsibility to walk that fence line as a farmer of old might have done. In the winter, the farm was splendid - rolling hills covered with whiteness, pine trees decorated with more of the same. And it was often abandoned, or almost so, except for a fellow dog walker. It was more beautiful than it was today.

Today, Chase Farm's dominant color was murky brownish-green, and mud came up nearly to my ankles in places. And it smelled like spring, but also like marsh. And there were more people and more dogs. And the pond was melting around its edges. Thaw.

The thaw seemed to bring scents alive for Urban Adventure Dog, and reminded me that spring is coming.