Autumnal Morning

We left our home just after sunrise and headed south. One-and-a-half hours later we were on a trail at Matthiessen State Park near Utica, Illinois.

Brilliant colors, waterfalls, a raging river, and the earthy smell of dampness in the woods. My wife, my dog, and an autumn morning, Sam holding her own, walking some four-and-a-half miles of canyons and valleys.

For lunch, Sam had some of her dry food we had brought along for the day. And for being such a good dog of the wilderness—a handful of Cheetos.

It was a very good morning.

Walks with Sam: A Man, a Dog, and a Season of Awakening will be published by John Hunt Publishing, UK in late summer 2020.