Gold Canyon, Arizona
Sophie and I went for a long walk the other day, and several unique things happened.
To Rabbit or Not to Rabbit
Sophie lagged behind. Actually that’s not unique. When it’s sunny outside, she’d rather not exercise.
Anyway, she was lagging so far behind that I hid behind a tree to scare her a bit. Once she figures out that I am out of sight, she usually trots along the trail until she finds me.
But on her way to meet me that day, she smelled a bunny rabbit. From my hiding place, I watched her come within four feet of the rabbit. She didn’t realize she was that close…

She was torn between chasing the rabbit and finding me. I watched as she weighed the pros and cons of each side of the equation. I could tell that the rabbit was winning, so I called her and she reluctantly caught up to me.
Too Tired to Walk but Not Too Tired to Jog
If there are people around, I keep better track of Sophie than if we’re virtually alone on the trail. She’ll catch up eventually…
She was, again, lagging behind. We were at a place where there are curves and dips, so we lost track of one another.
All of a sudden I heard two sets of footsteps from behind jogging towards me. Two young women were out for a morning trail run.

And guess who was jogging right along with them?
Yep, Sophie, without a care in the world. Happy as could be. 🙂
Apparently she was too tired to walk with me but not too tired to jog with her new friends.
Cardinals Time Two
There’s a gully that we cross with lots of shrubs and trees that is perfect for bird cover.
I had my first cardinal sighting there, and it was a good one!
I saw a pair of cardinals and they were ORANGE! Even more brilliant than the ones in this picture.
I was hoping to see some cardinals while we were here, but I was expecting them to be cardinal red.

What a pleasant surprise to see two orange Northern Cardinals. From what little bit of research I’ve done on the ‘net, the orange plumage is most likely caused by a diet that’s specific to this area.
Whatever’s causing it, they were simply amazing!
Now that was an American Beauty moment.