O'Hanluan Kerries of Alaska

Mark & I met on a trail in the woods that surround the swamp that lie
betwixt and between our homes at that time.  No doubt we never would
have met if not for the dogs – all being terriers.  But such as it
were, we all started meeting regularly out on the trails.  Sometimes
the meetings were loosely planned, and other times Mark and his -Dales
would emerge from the woods on a trail where I just happened to be
walking Aoife.  …Anyway, we ended up spending a fair amount of time
together.  And I like to recall the day I fell in love with Mark; or,
at least the day I realized it.

Aoife & The -Dales

As the story goes; we had just finished our dog-walk, and there at the
trailhead was a impromptu fire pit where some carefree souls had
enjoyed their time the night before.  The fire pit was filled with
broken glass from bottles that had been carelessly thrown into the
fire.  As Mark loaded the -Dales into his van, I started to clean up
the broken glass knowing that we would run those trails again and
again.  The idea that a dog might injure it’s paw made the cleanup
necessary; and beyond that I really wasn’t thinking much about it.
Within moments Mark knelt down at my side, also picking up the broken
glass from the abandoned fire pit.  Mark never uttered a word.  Nor
did I.  …And the pack looked on from inside our vehicles.

Too often in this life we are faced with the task of cleaning up a
mess.  And in the rare event you find yourself enjoying the company of
a friend while cleaning up some stranger’s mess; I think it’s a good
idea to recognize you’ve found a treasure.  So oddly enough that’s how
our story began…