Morning walks are among my favorite walks of the day. It is probably a morning ritual for most dogs, but for many of them it seems to be exactly that…a ritual. Every day, they walk the same path, smell the same grass, bark at the same dogs, mark the same trees and then go home. That is not the lifestyle I like. I need to explore. I need to walk different paths, smell different grasses, bark at different dogs, and mark a whole bunch of different trees before I go home. I thought I would share the paths that I walked just in the last week of April.
Sunday, April 24, 2022
This is one of my favorite places to go. I like it because there is a lot to see and a lot of variety of possible paths. This one is focused primarily on farming and rice paddies. We see some of the same people from time to time and there is one white shiba I often see and bark at, but for the most part, we can walk in peace!
Monday, April 25, 2022
I call this “the cemetery route.” We walk through 2 cemeteries. The second one is officially called: Grave Garden
In the mornings, we say good morning to 2 old ladies out for their morning walk. The walk up the hill to Grave Garden every day, do some stretches and then walk back down. They always say nice things about me. I like to make them smile by barking at them. Something I wonder about though: last year, it was 3 old ladies. Not sure what happened to the third one…
Tuesday, April 26, 2022
This walk goes from old to new as we pass through an old temple (and its cemetery) and then walk up and around a few new factories/distribution centers. The good thing about the factory area is that it is so new it has one of the best sidewalks i have been on in this area. Nice and wide and lined with shrubbery.
Wednesday, April 27, 2022
This is one of my longest running paths. We have been doing this one for years. It includes some rice paddies, the local juvenile center for wayward youths (and though that is a huge complex, have only ever seen a few administration staff and guards…never any wayward youths), and a park called Sakura Koen (Cherry Blossom Park). That park is a nice place to watch the sunrise. And funnily enough, is right over another cemetery.
The two dogs I sometimes see walking here are Koi-chan and Mocha-chan. I don’t see them every time we do this walk, but I see them enough so that when we do see each other, we can say “hi” without all the barking.
Thursday, April 28, 2022
This is an extension of the cemetery walk I did on Sunday. On the way down from Grave Garden, we walked through some natural paths, and then over through some rice paddies, and then back around towards where we had parked the car.
There are two golden retrievers who live on the extended part of this path. I like them and they like me, but for some reason, when we see them out walking with their Mom, she avoids us.
Friday, April 29, 2022
Back in Fukui. This is another variation of a usual location. It has the temple we visited on Tuesday and the rice paddies we saw on Sunday. I like this Fukui area because there are so many potential pathways!
At the start of this Fukui walk, we often see an old couple doing their morning walk. Even if we are across the street, they always wave and bow at me and in return, I bark and lunge at them.
Saturday, April 30, 2022
This was a brand new walk for us. We started in a usual spot: Saito Park, and then walked down a steep hiking path. From there, we walked over a road and were suddenly transported into “old” Japan. There were old farmhouses, rice paddies, and trails going off in different directions. We saw two shrines and a lot of debris of broken trees from windstorm we had a few days ago.
One week (half) total: 26.97km (16.75 miles)
That is just my “half” total. These are only the morning walks. I also go out for a couple of short walks and another longish afternoon walk every day! I am really lucky that Mom and Dad take me to so many different places for walks and for play. I don’t think many other dogs in my neighborhood have the same chances to go exploring.