Grandson David loves dogs and will have one of his own some day. Meanwhile, he is doting on guest dog Sadie. Any time she is in the house and he is not working, he will play with her. This is Sadie Sunshine Bear spending time with David.

Sadie is staying here with her owner Rose, friend of our son John $pencer. He and Rose are with us, gearing up for a nine-day hike on the Mountain to Sea Trail. They will be in the mountainous part, hiking toward Mount Mitchel, the highest point in the Eastern United States. To me it is a nine-day wonder, because they plan to hike ten miles a day. The tricky part is that there will be no easy access to stores from the trail. That means they must carry all their food with them, to be re-hydrated on the trail. Food is heavy. Sadie needs to help carry her own food, and she wore her empty saddle bag for a while to get used to it.

Normally Sadie is a bundle of energy, never still for long. She rushes headlong from one person to another and from one activity to another. As soon as they put her wearable suitcase on her, she stood still and looked at us with soulful eyes. David felt so sorry for her that he fetched her water bowl and favorite ball. She lay under the table for a long time, not even moving her tail. I would never have guessed the gizmo could turn her from an animated animal to a zombie. We could have used that kind of magic occasionally when she was jumping up on us. However, David and I hated to see the joy of living sucked out of her. She will wear the pack a few times a day until she gets used to it.