We didn't care!

Cherish sunsets, wild creatures and wild places. 

Have a love affair with the wonder and beauty of the earth. 

~Stewart Udall

Over the past few days we have taken note of Scruffy's continuing physical decline due to what we think was a stroke. Some days he is merely favoring his left front paw. Other days his entire left side is not functioning properly. It is hard for him to walk normally and his paw will curl. We know our time with him is short. We have been making plans for last adventures.

We have talked about some trips to the wildlife area, but then it rained and we both got sick and then it rained more. Even thought we aren't up to speed and knew the ground would be wet, we decided we couldn't wait any longer. We took the wild children to the wild.

The ground wasn't just wet - it was spongy/soggy. In places puddles showed the ground was saturated. I tried to walk on high ground, but when I found myself in the bog, I used plants as stepping stones. DH struggled along too, but the dogs ignored everything. They splashed through the water, left footprints in muddy spots, and behaved as if they had never seen the place before. We could see where flooding knocked the grass down and dug new drainage channels towards the creek.

We found a few of our old trails and tried to head to a good spot on the creek. The problem - we could find no "good" spot on the creek.  There was no limestone shelf to walk on. The water was high and the dogs jumped in anyway. Paddy scrambled out, but his injured left side did not allow Scruffy the coordination to climb out. DH and I solved the problem in our own way. The dog was in no danger, but we had to get him out of the creek. DH thought it out and went to a spot where he could empty his pockets in case he ended up in the water (it is a steep and muddy bank - anything is possible). In the mean time,  I didn't think.  I just edged down to the water, testing my footholds all along the way, and called to Scruff. He finally came close enough for me to grab his collar and pull him out (I know you are wondering what I had in my pockets - keys to my car, wallet, milkweed seeds, plastic bags, and over a thousand dollars worth of cell phones. I had been using both phones to take photos.). St. Roch (patron saint of dogs) must have been watching out for us as the dog was safe and I didn't even get splashed. [Or maybe we were protected by St. Florian (protects against drowning) or St. Andrew Avellino (strokes) or St. Dymphna (let's just say "crazy old ladies.").]*

We found our way back to the gate with little trouble. Dogs continued to investigate. People tried to avoid wet feet and critters that might still be out. We saw only a few birds along the creek and two mourning doves** few across the field. We were glad that at least those two escaped the hunters, the only other visitors to the area.

A biplane flew overhead. Traffic rumbled by on the small state highway that borders the wilderness. Thorny vines and low hanging branches removed my knit cap a few times. And we promised ourselves that we would come back again - and soon.

I wasn't sure what this was at first. Then I realized it was the remainder of a small liatris.

More puffy dry stems of liatris.

I knew there had to be milkweed seeds and finally discovered some open pods and "fluff" near a stand of cedars.

Why yes, yes I did gather some seeds for my garden.

Dogs head for the woods.

It is so grey that the yellow of osage oranges "pops."

Have you ever really looked at an osage orange? They are pretty gnarly.

Bluebonnets starting to come up. A little promise for a colorful spring.

Another pop of yellow!

The tomatoes/fruit of the silver-leaf nightshade.

Dogs aren't waiting for us.

I can almost always get the attention of the dogs by yelling "cookies." Worked again.

And again. Paddy is licking her lips in anticipation.

Paddy is in and out of the water in record time. Scruffy drank and walked a bit.

Then he was unable to make it up the steep bank. Look at that face and those ears. You could see him trying to figure out how to make it work.

After wandering during the fall and winter, I am convinced that all the trees are dead, but they are just waiting.

Our view was mostly the backs of these guys as they reveled in the smells of the place.

I stopped to look at a bird's nest fallen from a tree. Scruffy stopped too.

Few of the cactus still have fruit. Evidence of the ravenous wild hogs is everywhere.

The doves.

When you want them they run off. When you are trying to take a photo of your shadow they park on your shadow.

Grasses at the edge of the woods.

Cedar

The beautiful diablo - dried goldenrod with seeds.

Seedpods of the yucca.

These were so pretty I took another view.

The dried eryngo flower head - a shadow of its showy - almost neon - purple flower.

NOTES:

* My research did not disclose the patron saint of cell phones, but St. Michael the Archangel is the patron of telecommunications...hmmm...he IS one of ours for other reasons...so...whatever. We were all safe. DH reloaded his pockets. He said not a word about the potential risk to our communications. HE is the miracle.

** https://www.allaboutbirds.org/guide/Mourning_Dove/id