I was looking through my digital photo file this morning and came across a series of photos taken by our daughter’s husband Jay Stebbins, a professional photographer in Boston. I chose my favorite of the group to post here. That’s Violet in the foreground, our Berkshire Hills Australian Labradoodle. The photo really captures her happy, fun-loving personality, I think. Violet is great to take on a hike in the woods.
This photo was taken on a late autumn afternoon when Margie, Jay, and their English Pointer Moose were visiting for the weekend. We decided to take a walk along the Chesterfield Gorge. Just 20 minutes from our home, I have never been there in the thirty years we have lived here. Violet and Moose had a marvelous time jumping and swimming in the Westfield River, posing on large boulders along the riverbank, and running along the wonderful, East Branch Trail (known as River Road), which rambles through acres and acres of woodlands following the river for seven miles. Nothing strenuous about the hike. Mostly flat terrain. We hiked out an hour, then back.
On a day like today, I daydream about heading there when springtime finally arrives. Then in hot summertime. What a great place to cool off on some of the hot humid days we get. Perhaps pack a picnic and sit by the bank of the river. Violet is the perfect dog to take on an outing like this. She goes off a bit, never too far or out of sight. She looks back, checking for me to catch up to her, or she runs back and walks at my side. Violet loves her one-on-one time hiking in the woods. This is what Bright Spot Therapy Dog Violet likes to do best on her days off from her job as a Bright Spot Reading Buddy at the Hilltowns Charter School in Haydenville, Massachusetts where she listens to children in grades 2-3 read books to her. The time will come, I know. Each day there is less and less snow covering the ground. Today, all of my garden beds are exposed, waiting for sunshine to awaken the plantings within.