Exploring uncharted territory with help of canine guide

It was a mid-August morning in 1978. Though I had been up for a couple of hours I still had not made any plans for any expeditions that day. It was a perfectly warm day to enjoy the outdoors with just a few clouds in the sky.

My dog Mutt and I sat on the front porch soaking in some of the morning sun.

As I scratched her behind her ears I watched the big bumble bees as they wove in and out of the flowers growing along the walkway to the porch.

Each bee seemed to be laboring under its own weight and bumped into each flower before landing.

Mutt stood up and stretched out her limbs before slowly walking off the porch. She looked back at me as if to say, “My turn. Follow me.”

I lifted my twelve-year-old self up and followed her across the lawn, over the ditch through the creek and beyond. Every time she stopped to look over her shoulder I stopped as well so she would think she was the leader and in charge.

Most of where we wandered had no trails and required bushwhacking. I had to swat away a number of tangled and interlocking beech and maple branches to make my way through.

I began to think that Mutt’s motive was to discourage me as she directed me through the worst sorts of spots.

But even with my ball cap twisted around my head and leaves sticking out of my belt loops, I persevered.

I popped out of a rather tough brush pile into a glade of ferns that seemed to cover an area the size of a football field. Mutt was lost in the thickness of green, leaving behind a matted twisting trail to follow.

Up ahead I heard a loud dog sneeze so I picked up my pace. I walked until I found Mutt rolling in some ferns.

The smell emitting from the matted down ferns was incredible. This opening in the forest was undoubtedly the destination Mutt wanted to share with me—a spot where she felt content to roll and sprawl and enjoy.

I wondered how many times she had come here on her own to roll in the ferns before deciding to share it with me.

I sat down in the softness and watched Mutt her pull herself along the ferns as if she was doing the sidestroke.

We stayed there for almost an hour. I laid back and stared up at the few clouds as every thought and care disappeared from my mind.

The relaxation ended too soon for me when Mutt stood up and made her way out of the fern patch.

I dutifully followed as this was her day of adventure that she wanted to share with me.

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