My Mornings

I'm a simple guy. When I'm feeling good, I like to start my day off with a run. When I'm less then 100%, I read the paper, have a cup of good Kenyan tea with milk and hang out with our dog. That's the three of us in a cheesy phone photo- Hunter, cup of tea and me in my pj's.

I've always been a great believer that dogs belong outdoors. When we were kids, one of the exciting moments of life was when our dog- who always lived in the backyard -managed to sneak his way into the house and wreak havoc. Debi, however, loves having a dog in the house. Chelsea, our last dog, spent most of her days in the yard... until she got older, or I was away... when she romped freely through the house. Hunter on the other hand has spent most of his days indoors. He's spoiled and it shows. As he gets older, I've quit fighting the battle and decided that maybe indoor dogs aren't so bad after all... hey, Debi keeps me inside... so Hunter and I spend our mornings and many of our evenings together.

The dog's a pain in the neck... but I'm still stuck on him. Once a month he'll decide to bark all night- even in the house -that's almost two weeks a year of lost sleep over a dog. His ears get yeast infections and need to be cleaned on a regular basis- even then he spends half his life shaking his head. He can't be trusted around food- not for a second. If it's within reach and it's edible, from fruit to nuts, he's on it. Those complaints out of the way- he's a great running companion and can go for miles at any pace, he's smart as can be and learns most anything we're willing to teach him, (with the exception of all night barking and food on the counter), and he loves to hang out with us- the dogs NEVER had an "accident" in the house and gladly "go's" on command. All in all, pretty easy to live with, for a dog.

Life's filled with surprises. Some great and some not so great. Hunter's never shared his opinion in good times or bad, and I appreciate that about him. One more reason they're man's best friend. Don't know if Jesus had a dog- hope so. With the way some of his friends treated Him- it would be good to know He had a dog to hang out with when everyone else was on the run.

Hope your morning has a routine to it- something that starts the day off right -cup of tea, newspaper, time with the dog. Sometime's it's the simple things we take for granted that can get our days off to a great start and one more simple reason to come home at the end of the day.

blessings,

Eric