Happy Thanksgiving

The panicked look on my face is from a deer about 10 feet in front of us.

Happy Thanksgiving everyone!  Linda feels so blessed and realizes every single day that all she has is from God.  Last night at church they held the annual "I'm Thankful For.." service.  She teared up a couple of times, and one testimony made her cry.  I'm sure everyone in the room could have each used the entire service and filled it with things they are thankful for.  Turkey and stuffing.. pies and casseroles have never been important to Linda on Thanksgiving.  (She gets a lot of grief for that, but please don't think she isn't thankful!)  Being with her family is important though, and she is really looking forward to seeing them later today after they eat their feast.

 We are so excited for our first annual Thanksgiving hike today (hopefully!)  in the National forest.  It's about a 20 minute drive away.  Linda has to teach in the morning, but after class we are going to explore new trails Chim and I never been on before.  I'm going to be riding for some of it in the "carry-me" pouch (its a front pack made just for little dogs) but Chim will be walking the entire way.  She's also going to bring a water bottle to make sure we stay hydrated. The Thanksgiving hike tradition was started when Snickers was a puppy, and continued every year until he got to old to walk up the stairs.   Thinking back, it wasn't very smart or safe, but Linda would let Snicks off the leash.  They were the only ones around and he would round up the deer and bring them back to Linda.  She's lucky they didn't trample her. The second she would call him, he'd stop his herding and come back to her side. There was a time that he possibly saved her from two hiker guys who seemed to be stalking us.  They circled around and then waited by a big rock for her to reach them.  Snickers wasn't taking any chances that they just wanted to "chat" with Linda.  He went into "not one step closer or I'll eat you"  mode and chased the men off.  He was a 75 pound Doberman/Shep mix with a deep rumbling bark.  Snicks wasn't a threatening dog unless a man came into the house he didn't know, he saw an army uniform (she never figured out why that scared him.  He was a rescue dog, so maybe he had a bad experience in the past with someone in a uniform) or in tense situations like on the trail.  I hope we don't get in a situation where we ever have to save her.  Chim would lick the bad guy and I would run and hide.  To our credit, we do bark when our doorbell rings or someone is in our yard.

After our trail walk (if it eventually warms up!  Right now it's frosty and freezing) Linda is going to bake to get ready for the Fondue Party this evening.