March 10, 2023 — When I came home from work last night, Colebrook and Hawthorn were loaded up with their skis standing in the driveway. I barely got my truck into park before the boys were piling equipment into the bed. While I went inside for skis, the boys waited in my truck for a drive to Crystal Mountain. As I loaded my skis, Hawthorn forgot something and went inside. He was gone for a long time. Then he came out and said, “Sonny hasn’t had a walk today.”
Hawthorn’s words started a long conversation between us. Nightfall was coming. We unloaded the equipment and Sonny jumped in. He was over-the-moon happy to be with us. We took our three-year-old Swissy to the beach north of Good Harbor Road and clipped him to our longest leash. The wind was howling in our faces so we hiked behind the protected shore dunes.
The three of us zigzagged with no trail to follow. We walked by swaying white pine and white birch and through frozen snow drifts mixed with sand. We were bunched together in conversation. Darkness was settling in as the wind was settling down. “This is great,” Hawthorn admitted. “When I went back inside the house to grab my ski pass, Sonny was so sad. And look how happy he is now.” Look how happy we all are, I hummed to myself.
