Why September 11th was awesome
(well, at least this year...)
Here's how things went down:
Woke up around sunrise on a picture-perfect day (not a cloud in the sky, and it stayed that way all day). Was shortly re-awoken by the barking and wriggling of dogs in my bed, and upon looking out the window I saw a deer standing all of ten feet away. Got up, got things ready, and after resolving a few brief canine-related issues, headed out the door...
...from here, I walked several miles to a local park. Again, it was just a perfect day, and I could see, well, something that's well-known in this area, with remarkable clarity. The morning was cool but not cold--just right, really. I made brisk time, and reached the park about when I was hoping to.
Why was I at this park at this particular time? To meet another zoo, in fact! I'd recently become acquainted with him (at least one of you reading this probably know who I'm talking about), and it so happened that my business this weekend brought me fairly close to his stomping grounds; I contacted him to see if he'd be up for meeting, and he was. Again, after a bit of a delay, he made it to the park, and we proceeded to hit the trails. We seemed to hit it off really well, and he was duly impressed with my coyote-like speed and endurance on the trail!
The hike eventually ended (as they all must, sadly), but with neither of us having anything urgent for the rest of the day, we decided to seek out another hike. First was some delicious Mexican food, though =P
We made the drive to this other spot, and started hiking up an unfortunately crowded trail (the silver lining being a rather sexy St. Bernard I saw near the start of the trail...murr...). I was still full of canine energy; my fellow zoo was somewhat lower on it, but very much interested in still hiking nonetheless. We reached the end of the trail at what can only be described as one of the most spectacular views I've seen from a mountaintop that I can think of...it was probably in my top 10. We spent a while gazing at the magnificent scenery, but knew we eventually had to head down.
Heading back, we discussed zooish things for a change (believe it or not, I have more interests in real life than just finding dogs really, really sexy =P ) and made a few quick stops, then we were en route to another(!) hike. But this was a short one...still quite pretty, nonetheless, especially with sunset/dusk setting in. Even at this point in the game, after probably some 16 miles of hiking, I was still chock full of energy, even more so than I normally would be. We headed in the general direction of where I was staying, where we parted ways, but both of us with the interest of meeting up again at some point in the not-distant future! In fact, he'd invited me to hang out with him and another zoo friend of his on Sunday, but I unfortunately had to decline on the grounds that I have some catching up to do with classes, as much as I would've loved to go. And frankly, with how completely perfectly today went, I feel like anything else could only be a letdown...
I returned to my temporary residence, where I was able to enjoy a delicious dinner, and the company of a few exuberant dogs and a very sweet and affectionate cat. Oh, and some other good things (non-zoo-related) also happened...don't worry, nothing important, but it was just the icing on the cake for me.
So yep, that's about what a perfect day in the life of a zoo coyote looks like...one that will likely be concluded with a giant snuggle pile of dogs!
I may write something about my views on 9/11 and the political baggage related therein, but that can come later...
Here's how things went down:
Woke up around sunrise on a picture-perfect day (not a cloud in the sky, and it stayed that way all day). Was shortly re-awoken by the barking and wriggling of dogs in my bed, and upon looking out the window I saw a deer standing all of ten feet away. Got up, got things ready, and after resolving a few brief canine-related issues, headed out the door...
...from here, I walked several miles to a local park. Again, it was just a perfect day, and I could see, well, something that's well-known in this area, with remarkable clarity. The morning was cool but not cold--just right, really. I made brisk time, and reached the park about when I was hoping to.
Why was I at this park at this particular time? To meet another zoo, in fact! I'd recently become acquainted with him (at least one of you reading this probably know who I'm talking about), and it so happened that my business this weekend brought me fairly close to his stomping grounds; I contacted him to see if he'd be up for meeting, and he was. Again, after a bit of a delay, he made it to the park, and we proceeded to hit the trails. We seemed to hit it off really well, and he was duly impressed with my coyote-like speed and endurance on the trail!
The hike eventually ended (as they all must, sadly), but with neither of us having anything urgent for the rest of the day, we decided to seek out another hike. First was some delicious Mexican food, though =P
We made the drive to this other spot, and started hiking up an unfortunately crowded trail (the silver lining being a rather sexy St. Bernard I saw near the start of the trail...murr...). I was still full of canine energy; my fellow zoo was somewhat lower on it, but very much interested in still hiking nonetheless. We reached the end of the trail at what can only be described as one of the most spectacular views I've seen from a mountaintop that I can think of...it was probably in my top 10. We spent a while gazing at the magnificent scenery, but knew we eventually had to head down.
Heading back, we discussed zooish things for a change (believe it or not, I have more interests in real life than just finding dogs really, really sexy =P ) and made a few quick stops, then we were en route to another(!) hike. But this was a short one...still quite pretty, nonetheless, especially with sunset/dusk setting in. Even at this point in the game, after probably some 16 miles of hiking, I was still chock full of energy, even more so than I normally would be. We headed in the general direction of where I was staying, where we parted ways, but both of us with the interest of meeting up again at some point in the not-distant future! In fact, he'd invited me to hang out with him and another zoo friend of his on Sunday, but I unfortunately had to decline on the grounds that I have some catching up to do with classes, as much as I would've loved to go. And frankly, with how completely perfectly today went, I feel like anything else could only be a letdown...
I returned to my temporary residence, where I was able to enjoy a delicious dinner, and the company of a few exuberant dogs and a very sweet and affectionate cat. Oh, and some other good things (non-zoo-related) also happened...don't worry, nothing important, but it was just the icing on the cake for me.
So yep, that's about what a perfect day in the life of a zoo coyote looks like...one that will likely be concluded with a giant snuggle pile of dogs!
I may write something about my views on 9/11 and the political baggage related therein, but that can come later...