"A hike with my dog"

                                                           Hiking in Aptos, California

    I live in a place that has the best of both worlds, the ocean on one side and the forest on the other. This particular trail is a few blocks from my home, next to a junior college. My husband isn't much of a hiker, but my Boston Terrier named Rosie is. I always have a hiking buddy that is eager and ready to go.

    I wish I got on this trail more often, but I don't. This was the simpler part of the trail. You can take a trail in a different direction and upward into the mountain. I want to take that trail, but there is a sign that stands in my way. It's a sign that explain how should you encounter a lion, do not look at it directly in the eyes and back away slowly. I feel a bit silly standing in front of it, wishing I had the courage to follow this trail, as a trail rider or a hiker or two walks around me and heads up the trail. Why can I not  compose myself and be rational. There has never been a lion attack on a human reported in the forests of Aptos that I know of. Silly, I know!

    Wildflowers, birds singing , sunshine or a crisp day...it's the perfect escape from the mundane. I often get too caught up in household duties and competing against my planner, that I forget life is to be lived every day, not just once a week or maybe on the weekend. No more "I should do this" or "I should do that" when I have time. (The fact is...I do have time). 

                                                                

    I'm pretty sure as time passes, I'm not going to regret the times I didn't check everything off on my planner for Tuesday, but I will regret not taking in that sun rising over the ocean or putting on my cap, grabbing my dog and heading for the forest. 

                                               I know what I'm doing tomorrow morning.