Anxious

Before I get to the "anxious" part, I need to relate a story that happened this past weekend.

We took our dogs for a walk on the Greenbelt near Eagle. It was the first time we had taken this particular route. The dogs were having a great time, alternating between chasing ducks in the ponds that have cropped up to attract wealthy buyers to soon-to-be "exclusive" subdivisions, and exploring countless, burr infested trails down to the banks of the Boise River. (By "the dogs", I mean the "big" dogs - Keiko is a Border Collie/Spaniel mix, and Shadow is a Lab/Golden mix. The third wheel, and smaller dog, is Bandit; a Corgi/Something/Something runt. He really doesn't like to swim all that much and only gets his feet wet most of the time.)

As we continued down the trail we met a couple walking in the opposite direction. I asked how far this particular trail was. "Well, it's about a mile or so before you get to the next subdivision. Of course, you'll go past the cows first", was the reply.

Sure enough, after a few hundred feet we crossed a footbridge, turned the corner, a saw this pristine setting - maybe 10 fenced-in acres, and 50-75 head of cattle. How cool. Didn't expect that.

Keiko and Shadow noticed the cattle, but since they had seen cows before, were mostly uninterested. Bandit, however, definitely took notice - ans started barking. I'm not sure if it was his Corgi instincts, or just the fact that he had never encountered big "dogs" like this, but the herd certainly got *his* attention.

After we quieted him down we continued along the trail. He was fine until a couple calves decided they wanted to play, and that little dog looked "fun". So, they started running along their side of the fence teasing Bandit and goading him into doing something. They succeeded. Bandit took off after the calves, barking merrily - oooh, this was fun. The big bull standing nearby apparently didn't think it was fun (or amusing - party pooper); he snorted, lowered his head, and stormed after Bandit. Uh oh.

The next few seconds were absolutely hilarious. Bandit, still chasing after the calves, heard the bull chasing him. The look on his face changed from happy fun to sheer terror. His eyes got wide, he reversed his direction, kicked it into high gear, and literally blurred back to us and safety. I thought he was fast, but I never knew how fast. We were rolling on the ground with laughter.

Now, why am I anxious? I ordered some bike panniers from Amazon, and I'm anxiously waiting for them to arrive. I'm hoping it will cut down on "back sweat" and lower back soreness during my jaunts to and from work. Waiting... waiting...