Girl gone wild

Have you ever seen a happy dog, I mean, really happy? (I'm not talking to you nay-sayers who would dismiss this as a meaningless anthropomorphism.)

I saw a really happy dog tonight. My dog Yukon and I went for a walk in the woods. Normally, Yukon is something of a couch potato (unless there's food around). He gets excited when it's time for a walk. But when he gets to root around in the woods, my 11-year-old beagle is like a puppy again.

You can judge his state not so much by the "smile" that results when his tongue hangs out; that's pretty much there all the time. But it's the way he carries himself. His ears are a little perkier, his step a little quicker. His white-tipped tail, which helps me keep track of him in the underbrush, is just a little more erect. He hops around as though he wasn't carrying around a few extra pounds. No doubt about it in my opinion – he's having a ball.

If you ask me, every dog ought to be really happy every once in a while, if that means an extra T-R-E-A-T now and then, a good scritching behind the ears or a long, luxurious nap on a forbidden chair.

If Yukon had paused in his snuffling long enough to look behind him, he might have seen a happy human. Yukon and I have a lot in common: We both enjoy a good ethnic dinner. We both like our tea with milk and sugar. And we both like traipsing around in the woods.

That's part of the reason I decided to take a sabbatical, as one friend put it, to live and work at the ARC Retreat Community near the bustling metropolis of Stanchfield, Minn. I'm in the midst of studying for a master's degree. I own a home. I feel like I can never get caught up with every thing I have to do. So the solution? Move away from home for three months, of course.

When you were in school, did you ever pray for a snow day so you'd have another day to finish your homework or study for a test? It didn't happen, of course. But when you're a grown up, sometimes you get to make your own snow days. (For a price, of course.)

When the opportunity arose to spend some time at ARC, I weighed the pros and cons. It defied logic and practicality to come here.

But in my mind's eye, when I saw Yukon bounding through the woods like a pup, it was too good to pass up – especially when I saw the pup was not alone. A little girl who looked a bit like me wasn't far behind.