We live each day as it comes since it is an inevitable process during which we view each succeeding day with curiosity: what will it bring? For young people each day should be an exploration of the world surrounding them, for older people it's delight in small revelations that make each day special. We are constantly evolving into our older, more mature, experienced selves.

For some individuals this is never enough and what some view as opportunity to take what we can from seemingly pedestrian experiences, others reject and avidly seek more exciting exposure to opportunities that will draw them away from the ordinary. There are countless examples, from young people in the West travelling East to teach English as a second language, to committed hikers and bikers taking their passion to unfamiliar geological locations that offer physical and experiential challenges.

We see the evolution of time and the maturity of all living things throughout our daily lives, if we should care to notice them. From marvelling at the size a tree attains that was planted a decade earlier, to missing a companion animal that outlived its lifespan, and welcoming a successor to fill the void left by the missing companion's absence.

As we trek daily, my husband and I and our two little dogs, through the ravine that bisects our community, taking various forest trails through thickets of trees we sometimes recall what that wildlife haven looked like three decades ago when we were first introduced to its presence. During that time we have been privileged to know many other people who value this priceless natural treasure. We have also met their beloved family pets as they companion them through the trails. And mourn with them the best we can when those companions languish from old age into death.

We will never ourselves forget the companionship of our first two little dogs, now gone. Their absence from our lives was emotionally devastating. It tends to be on a greater-or-lesser scale for most people who have grown emotionally attached to animals in their intimate lives whose intelligence and love that we share are so intensely valued.

Our emotional ties to our companion-pet intimates become so tight we feel instant empathy with all other non-human creatures, realizing and understanding through more acute observation what they are capable of feeling themselves. Iit does harm to our sense of well-being when we see an animal mistreated. And it touches us to the core when we see another creature brought into the world to begin anew the natural process of exploring their world, familiarizing themselves with boundaries and enjoying life.

Yesterday, during our ravine walk in the forest with Jackie and Jillie we came across one such little creature, a six-month-old little Cocker Spaniel, hesitant at first, overwhelmed by the too-close physical attention Jackie and Jillie were giving him, then increasingly confident, enough so to do to them precisely what they were exposing him too; the usual sniff-fest that gives dogs the opportunity to become familiar with one another's distinguishing scents, the process of socialization.