Pandemic pals

Today I want to tell you a bit about my friends M and J. (They are Gail's friends too, but this is my blog!)

You see me here patiently waiting for them on a walk last week, after M had stopped to take the photo below.

As you will have noticed, it was another rather dreary day in Scotland. (Oh how I wish last Thursday's post was not an April Fool joke - today we have snow again...) But although my friends are good bit older than Gail, they are not ones to be deterred by adverse weather. They also have more energy than most folk half their ages, and Gail tells me that in normal times M and J lead active and stimulating lives - enjoying visiting their daughter and grandsons in the Netherlands and other family and friends in Germany, going for sightseeing holidays in Italy and elsewhere, attending concerts, plays and exhibitions, improving foreign  language  skills etc. etc.  

With travel and so many other human activities on hold, have M and J sat indoors sulking? Far from it! They have been out and about exploring the nearby countryside, walking for a couple of hours or more, just about every morning of the pandemic. And to my great delight, roughly once a week (when Covid rules permit) Gail and I have joined them.

What fun these outings have been for a still lively wire fox terrier! And Gail and I wonder how many other humans at M's stage in life have become fitter and more adept at negotiating paths that are sometimes steep, rough, muddy, icy etc. over the past year?

I love it that we have investigated so many new footpaths and byways together, and I also love it when the humans sit down on a rock or log for 'elevenses', take out their flasks of coffee and snacks and, of course, a treat for me to chew on while they relax for a few minutes and set the world to rights.

Oh I do hope M and J will still find time for these walks when they are able to resume their busy lives.