We managed to catch a perfect time for a walk in Rock Creek Park today...it was sunny, but still cool and not humid.  Knowing that it is going to be hot and humid as the week goes on, I made sure we did a good, long (for me) walk...over a mile round trip.  (I like the fact that there are quarter mile markers along the walk, so I have a good idea about the distance we cover.)  Mali always looks up to me to make sure that she is doing the right thing, but when we turn to go back to the car, she just goes forward with confidence and a pretty quick clip for me.  About half the way back to the car, there were 2 deer on the path.  I like that neither Chi nor Mali jerked the leads to give chase.  The deer cautiously crossed the street into the more "private" underbrush.

 I've never noticed them before but there were yellow iris-type flowers growing along the edge of the little stream branches that drain into Rock Creek Park.

I saw a red-winged blackbird, too; the first one I have seen in a good long while.  Thanks, Mali, for another great walk in the park!  May 28, 2013

Yesterday, Mali was leaping all over the yard!  She hops...she spreads out long and leaps as if she is flying!

Today, my son took them on another excursion through fields and streams up-county.

 Photos by my son - May 25, 2013

Mali's other special friends - Buster (brown) and Leroy (black) - Photo by my son - May 10, 2013

Unfortunately, Chi gets protective of Mali the Flirt, so he can't join in the runs with the other dogs; so the "ole man" stays home with me on those days.

Mali watches everything I do...watches so intently.  I am waiting for her to start sending out e-mails...

                                                                     May 15, 2013

Waiting for me to get dressed to take them out back...May 19, 2013

                                                  Our Dynamic (and inseparable) Duo!

May 22, 2013 - Mali has seen her first deer!  Chi alerted to it, and then Mali went to the back fence to watch the solo female white-tail deer as she wandered around our neighbor's yard.  It was my first since the deer hunt in March...I hope she is not alone.

From the beginning, walking Mali and Chi has been a big part of her acclimatization.  My son was taking them on 3 or more walks per day to help things settle in.  He spends hours walking them 3 1/2 to 5 or more miles on the weekends now.  I understand that Mali, like Chi before her, is quite adept at jumping logs and enjoys the water.
And I am now able to take them on walks, too, as a lunchtime break in nearby Rock Creek Park.

Photo by my son - April 5, 2013 - a caring moment....

May 2, 2013 - Rock Creek Park near Kensington Parkway

I find it is not so easy to walk them AND take photos...so most days we just enjoy what's around.

                        My upper body gets a work-out trying to keep the leads from tangling...

                                                                May 3, 2013

On May 1, 2013, it was time for another series of CAT scans, so my son took off to help me through it.  He took Mali and Chi for her first walk along the entire "Crescent Trail" and down to Fletcher's Boat House.  Chi has enjoyed his walks with my son on this trail many times in the past, especially while I was in chemo.
(Photos by my son)