Yay! Our playground is open!

Look! Three boneless dogs!

Last Tues (10th Oct), I wondered whether the creek had frozen sufficiently to open the trails to us. There isn't enough snow to ski yet, but I figured it'd be nice to be able to walk the trails. I took Raven down to investigate.

Ahhh goosh! Not good!

And the creek is thin ice with a hole in the middle. No good! We could hear liquid water upstream, too.

However, just two days later, it was frozen! Yay! But Raven and I didn't proceed past here. It didn't seem right to have First Trail Walk of the Season without Queen Thistle and Princess Cricket.

Last weekend, we walked our familiar loops! Yay! It was fun to show them to Raven!

I took Raven to campus the other day. She is Very Serious!

And look! Raven has picked up this Schnozz Rest Position.

Just like Cricket

And Thistle!

Thistle is doing so great! She is so happy it's winter. She wasn't even tired after our long walks. After we got home, she binkied around the yard like a bunny. It is obvious now that we made the right decision when her health collapsed last month in asking her to fight and hang on, and putting her through an exploratory surgery. It's possible she could have never recovered from that, and that pain would have been for nothing. How would we have known? I have no idea. Maybe the best we can do is to act the best we know to do, with love, be grateful when things work out, and forgive ourselves when it does not.

Fall Slides into Winter

Oh that lovely slanting light! I do not feel too bad that Raven makes us take so many walks!

Nor that her elder sisters insist on coming along for these 2nd and 3rd walks as well. It's great to see them enjoying all of the life of a youngster!

Well, except for fetching! That will remain the province of only the shepherd mix!

Here is the real sign of winter to come: First Fire

And having to put on LED vests, although for now it's only for the evening walk. Mornings are still light.

Look! This icky muck pond is frozen!

And so are these puddles on the trail! I have traded my waterproof boots for studded shoes!

And most of the leaves are on the ground.

The light is still golden though.

And it is time to put on winter tires. I always had this bit of 2x8 in my car with my tire kit so I could put my jack on it rather than have it sink into snow or soft ground. After a while, it would split, I'd say some Bad Words, and I'd go to the lumberyard and buy a new one.

After I met DL, he made this laminate one for me. It's 5 layers with the grain in alternating directions and will never split. I about melt every time I use it. DL does not buy me roses or fancy wine. But he quietly makes things like this, or replaces my expired bear spray, or trims thorny rose vines back from the trails that only I use. It's a kind of caring that is deeper and more thoughtful than any of the more stereotypical symbols of romance.