Yay for Cats and Dogs

I know the secret of happiness. Well, at least the secret of happiness for me:

1) Get up early and write on the couch with my mug of Swiss Miss Hot Chocolate beside me.
2) Go for a long walk in the beautiful mountains by my house.

Every day that I do this is a good day.

Every day that I do not do this is not a good day.

It is completely within my power to do both of these things, barring the occasional broken foot or other looming emergency.

So why do I ever not do them? Why do I look at the clock at 5:00 or 5:30, and say, oh, I can write later? Then tell myself, when I finally do roll out of bed at the ridiculously late hour of 6:30 or 7, I can take my walk later, too? The whole day drifts by in an unproductive stupor, filled with who-knows-what, and then at the end of it, no page has been written, no walk has been taken. Oh, the sad shame of it!

Luckily, such days are rare for two reasons:

1) Snickers the cat

2) Tank the dog

It's Snickers who meows to be fed breakfast at 5:30 a.m. It's Tank who writhes with joy at the sight of the leash in my hand at 7:00. Once I force myself out of bed to feed Snickers, I might as well fix myself some hot chocolate and settle down to write. After an hour of writing, I don't feel like leaving my cozy couch to walk, but I can hear Tank waiting hopefully at the bottom of the stairs.

So I write, and I walk, and life is good.

Yay for cats and dogs!