bumperstickers and happiness, together in one post

The best bumpersticker I ever had on my car was black and white and said, simply, BUMPERSTICKER. When that one got smashed when my car got rear-ended, I got one that said "There's only now." I think that one showed up in my CE article.... For more than two years now, I've been driving around with "Cleverly disguised as a responsible adult" on my car's behind, and it's been the subject of many comments from friends and strangers alike. Everybody loves it. Becky's husband Tom wanted to know where the disguise was 'cuz he didn't see it. Well, seeing as I'm working through this crisis of adulthood, I decided it was time for it to go. It's been so hot these past few days that it was surprisingly easy to peel off. I also took off the ADK and the bear face from the Old Forge Country Store (which I love). I kept the WOOF oval sticker that Julia gave me for my birthday, and I put on my new favorite: a blue bumpersticker with a silhouette doggie that says "Dog is my copilot."

Speaking of wonderful doggies, yesterday I decided that, since the weather was so much cooler and walking Belly in the 90-degree heat had lost some of its joy, Belly and I would go some place special. I took her to a park not 10 miles from here (but it seemed like a really really long way because it was highway driving) called Comlara Park, home of Evergreen Lake. I picked a 2.5 mile point-to-point trail, and we hiked. After about ten minutes of hiking, we came to an opening in the trail that led to the lake, so I told Belly she could go in. She splashed around, batting at things in the water, sticking her whole head in, shaking her body off while still in the water. I laughed so much at my funny girl that I was close to tears. She was just so damn happy and it had taken so little on my part to make her that happy.

When we got back on the trail, I let her run off leash and she was such a good girl. She was running ahead of me and every once in a while, she'd stop and make sure I was still in sight. Ladies and gentlemen, Annabelle Blue Butler has officially grown up. No more yelling and yelling and yelling for her to come after letting her run off leash. No more worrying that she's going to run off and find some random car and get hit. It's official that Belly wants to please me and wants to be with me more than she wants to run off and hear me yell her name a hundred times. This was a long time coming, as many of my readers know very well, and I'm grateful. But what really made the day so good was seeing how happy my dog was with something as simple as a trip to a new and exciting park. I'm beginning to understand what it means to be happy, really happy, as opposed to content. Yesterday I was happy, and now as I write about it, I'm happy again. Thanks, Boodabug.