the red hat of courage

in anticipation for our upcoming adventures we're acclimatizing Ash to the tent. as we set it up in the front room this morning, Ash was very interested in the poles and things but once we got it up she was unsettled. i can't blame her. she came from a small, enclosed space not too long ago and i bet it's unnerving to crawl inside something that is reminiscent of the womb. so English and i got inside and eagerly demonstrated how much fun the tent is.

'hey look! this is great, Ash!' and
'woah! i'm having the time of my life!' and
'i don't feel scared or anything.'

she hemmed and hawed for a few minutes, whimpering at the door. she made a move to crawl in but changed her mind at the last minute, still unsure. but then she did the bravest thing i've seen - by anyone - in a long while. she mustered up the courage and crawled in - no looking back. i could tell it took a great amount of courage and i was way impressed.

once she was inside i picked her up and showed her the finer things in the tent: mesh windows and celing, nylon walls, little side pockets for storing things, like, say, a Kermit.

now, she's a pro. we're going to leave the tent up for a couple more days and i'm sure we'll have to get it out a few more times before heading out but we've made progress.