Thank you Charlie

I am dog-sitting for my dad's elderly dog, Charlie, for the next few weeks.  Charlie has a bum leg and arthritis.  He needs to be helped up on to the bed at night (yes, he sleeps on the bed).  But.....he reverts back to puppy mode on his daily walk.  My dad's wife takes him out almost every day of the year, in warm weather and cold.  I think that's why he's still alive.  He loves getting out and has been pulling me through the neighborhood the last few days as if he were a pup.  Once in a while he breaks into a trot and is smiling (you know that dog smile?) all the way.

Makes me think about how important exercise, and getting out and about, is for all of us.  I am thankful for dogs for countless reasons, but today, I am thankful for Charlie, in particular, for getting me out into the cold crisp sunny day today to get the blood pumping and the mind focused on the simple and awesome beauty in nature -- red berries on bare brown branches, bare branches against a clear blue sky.  Thanks Charlie!