Sprightliness and Perserverence

Fips was voraciously cuddly last night, nudging my face and crawling over my head. He eventually settled down on a pillow.

This morning both dogs were on the perky side, and Fips showed none of his more usual morning creakiness and stumbles. It was overcast and damp but otherwise dry, and so after noon I decided to take them down to Alderpark for an end of year pad-about.

When we got there, Fips was back in creak-n-poke mode, but once we got onto the trail he gradually picked up his pace, building up to a run on the down slopes. Down by the second bridge I felt a few droplets and wondered if maybe we shouldn't turn back, but I forged on.

At the half way mark, Fips charged across the bridge, as some more drops fell. But now it made no difference and so we were locked into doing the full circuit.

Fips was doing pretty well, outpacing Rosco who was lagging behind. But after the rise in the trail, past the half way mark, Fips began to tire. He picked up his pace on the down slope. Again on the flat, he slowed down to a steady but otherwise unvivacious walk. Once we got to the creek and the lower parking lot, Fips was just plain dogged. Now it was Rosco who trotted up the hill as Fips came along slowly and I squealed encourgement.

We now know Fips' comfortable and outer limits; but we made it, once again! ending the year with perduring sprightliness and steady perserverence.

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