Instead of sharing a place or experience, I thought I should introduce you to one of my travel companions who has been with me on many adventures over the years. If you have been following me for a while you have probably seen pictures here and there of my dog Scout.
Scout was only 6 weeks old when he joined the family. He was so little and round with what seemed like armfuls of loose skin that he would grow into. He loved to snuggle up next to me and he soon found his favorite place to sleep was behind my knees.
He wouldn’t stay little for long. Within a few months he would grow to his full size. By this time Scout and had discovered that we loved to take long walks, long drives, and go hiking up on the trails together. The neighbors all loved his baying howl, except when it happened in the middle of the night when some critter or another wandered through the yard.
Just about every day you could find me and Scout up above the city on one of the trails. Most of the trails in the Wasatch Mountains of Utah didn’t have leash laws so I could let Scout just run and explore. He would run for miles but then always come back and check to make sure he knew where I was. It was amazing to watch this blur of white run up the mountain side like it was nothing and then a few minutes later come trotting down the trail looking for me.
A couple of years later when my daughter joined the family, people were a little worried about how Scout would take to having a baby around. But from day one they were the best of friends. If she would cry, Scout would bring his toys to her. She would drop snacks from her high chair to give to him and he would push dogfood out of his bowl to give to her. And they loved to snuggle with each other.
With Brad getting a job offer in Florida we packed up and moved across the country. Scout joined Brad and my dad for an awesome road trip from Utah to Florida. We lived on a barrier island right next to the ocean. Scout loved to drive around and smell things and to watch all the comings and going from our balcony. But now gone were the hikes up the mountain. In its place was the beach where Scout thought the waves were attacking him and so would try to bite them before running away from them.
A year and a half later we packed up the car again, this time heading to Tennessee. Scout has joined us in exploring the state parks and a lot of the surrounding states. He is definitely a southern dog as just about everyone we meet tells us how much they love his bay. We have met a lot of people who use to have dogs like this. In a random dog parade we joined down in Alabama last year, nearly everyone on the street was more interested to see the hound they could hear than all the other dogs.
Scout turns 9 this month and he is starting to show his age as more and more white comes in around his eyes and he has developed some fatty tumors here and there. And while he is still very lean and active and loves a good run when he gets the chance, he is slowing down a little bit and tends to sleep more and more. And there will come a day in the not so distant future when he will go and run that in place beyond and we will miss him on our adventures.
So for now, we take him with us everywhere we can and enjoy the way he cocks his ears and tilts his head trying to understand what you are saying, and the way he will snuggle you right off the couch, and the way his hound bay carries across miles letting everyone know he is there. We couldn’t have asked for a better or more faithful friend to join us on our weekend adventures.
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