Mornings with Sage

I have been running in the morning for 30 years now.  What began as discipline, became an addiction and is now a habit.  

My Airedale, Alex ran with me for a number of years, then I was dogless on my runs.  Riley, the Wheaten, went for one run, made it about a half mile, stopped, dug in her paws, refusing to go any further.  The Princess does not run.  

Murphy embraced running like she did every thing else.  She was at the front door long before I tied my running shoes.   When I began running with Murphy, we lived in a suburb 20 miles more or less from downtown Manhattan.  Amazingly, the area had more open space than out here.  Murphy and I ran through what was then the headquarters for Kraft Foods.  The site was a suburban office park, with emphasis on park (just up the road was the Pepsi headquarters which really is one of the most amazing outdoor sculpture parks...makes SAM's look puny).  There was a creek running through (or, in the east coast they call them brooks), a wonderful mix oak and maple forest, and foxes.  Almost every morning we saw at least one fox.  After the run, off leash of course, through the corporate park we slogged, ok I slogged, up hill through a public park.  I had Murph on leash by then, and we had to learn, together, the "no yank" command after Murphy discovered squirrels.

I can not forget the morning, our first summer running together, when I saw a Cardinal, a Blue jay, and an Oriole.  No, I didn't see any Yankee or Red Sox birds!  

After we moved to Seattle, Murphy and I continued our runs.  Instead of encountering foxes and birds, we met people.  Wonderful people.  Murph instantly knew Scott and Paula, and which pocket contained the treats.  

Murph's running days are long gone.  But Sage has taken up the work.  Five days a week we run in the neighborhood, and on the weekends we either run though a local park or challenge ourselves and run up Tiger Mountain.  Where Murph left off mooching treats off people, Sage has taken up that work with gusto.  I swear she eats more calories on our runs than she works off!  

We've started running through Golden Gardens in the morning.  It's still dark when we descend or ascend, depending on the day, the stairs from the beach.  Yesterday the moon, not quite full, was setting, casting an orange glow over the Sound.  At the beach, we can usually hear the waves, often crashing onto the beach.  Now, in early Spring, the Winter Wrens and Robins are warbling, even in the dark, reminding us that today, the Earth tilts just a little bit more and we are into the new season.

I enjoy this time with Sage, just as I loved my days of running with Murphy.  They show me things, everyday.  It goes without saying, I also relish the "sniff breaks."  Sage, unlike Murph, is more than happy to plod along with me.  And while I walk with Murphy in the "slow walk" movement, Sage indulges me in the "slow run."

We come home to Murphy, ready for a walk.  She still wants a morning routine even if it's not yanking at the leash eager to rid Rye Brook of squirrels.

Murphy's day.