Howard Lee...Mountain Man

My last hike was way back on New Year's Day, so we decided to head out for a much warmer, less snowy and long overdue hike on Easter Sunday.  Of course Lambeau joined us, and being a super energetic young beagle we knew he could run all day if we let him.

Leambeau's ears flapping in the breeze

Howard, of course, was the wild card of the day.  I have been telling Andy for months that Howard is going to be a great mountain dog, however he was understandably skeptical and I have to admit that during our time in the mountains we did not encounter any other four pound beasties running about.  

There is still snow on Ben Lomond

In truth I think Howard surprised us both.  He kept up like a champ,  tail wagging and ears flapping the whole time.  He was a little warrior plowing through the brush and standing proudly atop peaks overlooking the city.  We walked for three hours and I had to hold him only at the very end.  People we encountered were quite amused by him as he traversed rocks, cracks and cacti like an old pro.

I was amazed by the fact that we were able to pick out our house almost the entire hike, no matter how high we climbed, thanks mostly to a construction project which involves bright blue pipes laid next to our house.

My parents used to say "time flies when you're having fun" and it was certainly true on Sunday.  Eventually our stomachs forced us to check watches and only then did we realize we had been out for almost three hours and were still heading up, at which point we reversed our course to prepare Easter dinner.


We had a half ham left over from Christmas, which, as it turns out, we should have probably started thawing about a week ago.  Our five o'clock dinner time passed us by as we waited for the internal temperature of the ham to rise past forty degrees, which seemed like a lifetime of waiting while our stomachs growled.

Chef Mieler glazing the ham

As with most good things, it was worth the wait.  We lit our Easter candles from Mary and shared a lovely dinner with good reminiscences about family and friends.

Happy Easter to you all, and soon I hope to say Happy Spring and mean it, however it was snowing on my way to the office today so I'm not holding my breath.