Pheasant Branch

I woke up this morning to a luminous full moon right outside the sliding glass doors. It reminded me of why I get up so darn early--to catch moments like that! I wake up everyday between 4:30 and 5 am. I don't know if it's due to habit (all those years of getting up before Becky and Katie so I can grab a cup of coffee, read the news, write in my journal, [now my blog] and just simply wake up) or pre-menopause or just my body's schedule. Maybe it runs in the family. My dad (God rest his soul) used to be the first one to rise when I was growing up in the ranch home in Muskego. He used to get the coffee going then head out for a jog down hilly Crowbar Road. Anyway it's my favorite time of the day--DAWN. I sit on the couch with my laptop and can look out the front window and slowly take in the bands of red, pink and purple that turn into a sunrise. Summer's the best-- the sun rises before 5 am! I drink a cup of coffee, then I too head out, not for a daily jog but for a daily walk through Pheasant Branch Conservancy.

It's an amazing place filled with birds and deer and coyotes. There are wildflowers and lots of prairie and a five mile trail that runs through the middle.

I take my dog, Maggie. We've been going on a long morning walk everyday since she was nine months old (she turns TEN on July 2nd of this year). For me the walk is exercise. For her it is a scavenger hunt! She looks for dog poo, discarded kleenex, small tree branches, even used wipes (I know disgusting-right?) then gobbles them up. Over the years I've gotten so angry at this behavior, but lately I'm reconciled to the facts--she's a dog, a retriever, that's what animals do and it brings her great joy.

Well, Let's getter and GET, as my father would say, before we headed out of the house to go somewhere.