Neighborhood walks

Dear Heidi and Shelby,

I'm so glad that we live in an actual neighborhood. I missed it so much when we moved from our condo in Dracut to the house in Methuen. The house obviously had its own yard, but it was on a very short street that connected to a very busy one. If we wanted to walk, we had to drive to one of our favorite destinations: Livingston fields in Tewksbury, Winnekenni Castle in Haverhill, the farm (woodsom farm) in Amesbury or the beach. Not that this was a bad thing...we still love going to all of those places for a quiet scenic walk (when its not tick season). But if I was running low on gas, or if it was getting late in the day (especially when it starts to get dark early) we would have to skip our walks all together and find something else to do...usually ending up playing frisbee in the yard.

But now we have the best of both worlds. We can drive to any of our favorite spots, (well, when the cooler weather gets here) or we can just walk up our street and around the neighborhood. Its not a long walk, only about 20 mins or so, but it is a nice walk for you too. Especially when the weather is a bit warm and sticky, like it was tonight. The pavement doesn't get hot because of all the trees bordering the streets from all the yards. Its also nice to see all the different houses that make up our little neighborhood. There are some neighbors that we can always count on seeing on our walks too. Usually they're the ones with the dogs...and they're the ones who are the most friendly towards us.

Of course we always walk with baggies so I can pick up any "deposits" you leave along the way...which are inevitable. I don't know what it is about pooping in someone elses yard, but you girls cant help but do it. I think you're secretly thinking its dangerous, or taboo or something. You guys are trying to be Sheltie rebels and show the world how bad-ass you are. Well, its never a big deal unless you do it in our neighbors yard. We've already had the dog officer called twice on us because you and your cousins cant magically tell where the yard borders are. The guys a shmuck. I remember playing frisbee with Heidi in the front yard and it accidentally went into his yard. The guy actually came charging out of his house and told me to get you off his property. Seriously? It was a mistake. You weren't "assuming the position" and getting ready to drop a load. You stepped over the property line by accident to go after your toy. Give me a break.

Luckily all of our neighbors aren't as anal, and most up and down the street have dogs of their own. This one guy just happens to be the bad apple out of the bunch. But beyond him, I love walking you in the neighborhood. It just is so nice to get out of the house either early in the morning when Ginny goes to work, or later in the day after dinner. I think it relaxes us all, and makes us sleep a little bit better after some exercise. The fresh air does us all good.

So lets keep walking. Lets walk our neighborhood as often as we can and make it a ritual that benefits us all. Its important to stay active, now that you girls are in your senior years. And where we cant always get to one of our favorite walking places for one reason or another, it helps that we have this other option. I love our walks together, and hope they last for a long, long time.

For now, rest my babies. It was a warm night tonight and I know the walk wore you out. So get some sleep, and I'll see you tomorrow.
xoxo