I went hiking with my sister and her two dogs today, under a lazy blue sky, a sky with no particular commitments. Some summer skies are serious, at least, about their blueness; this one was sort of a pale hazy blue, sprinkled with clouds which trickled away at their edges rather than definitely ending.

We debated whether to go up to the marsh (no shade), or to the Kettle Moraine forest (too far a drive), or a nearby park where you can swim in the Rock River (no place to walk, and the younger dog has just been spayed and can't get her stitches wet). We finally settled on Pike Lake, where we could both hike and let the older dog swim (though it would be horribly crowded on a Saturday, as indeed it was). The beach and picnic areas were swarming with people talking boisterously in Spanish and English, grilling, playing volleyball, dancing to music played on scratchy boomboxes, and most of all eating. But the trails were not nearly so crowded, and anyway the congestion gave us a chance to practice such important dog skills as Continuing to Walk Nicely Even Though There Are People Over There, and Calmly Greeting Overly Rambunctious Fellow Dogs.

On the way home, we stopped to get a raspberry shake for the people and an ice cream cone for the dogs. (Ice cream is, for some reason, the only exception to my sister's rule against sharing people food with dogs. Yuck!)