When one hasn't walked in a while...

The streets were slick with that thin film of moisture from a "less than a mist" of precipitation. I had thought our only hazard would be the carpeting of leaves* along the route, but the streets proved to be a sly danger.

Leaves almost cover the sidewalk

Messy looking pecan leaves.

Bur oak leaves still clinging on.

More oak leaves in a neighbor's yard.

Our yard...I do not want to rake!#

Paddy contemplating the mixed oak leaves - Bur and Red

 It was too late a start for my introverted DH. Neighbors were out. They talked to us.

We saw a young man at the house with the red door and asked about the flashlight. (See "It was a cold and rainy night" and "Little dog lost" regarding the yellow flashlight). One always knows that all hope is lost when a person diverts attention from self to sibling. "Oh, didn't my brother bring the flashlight back to you?"

It appears I will be purchasing a new flashlight for DH as there was a U-Haul trailer parked at the house with the red door. I suspect the flashlight is long gone or will be soon. Ah, well. Finding Abby the boxer was more important than the yellow flashlight.

We dodged the morning rush hour traffic along our street. We avoided the speeding park employees, clearly late for work.

DH tried to convince me that the mist had made the dirt road "un-walkable," but I am no fool.

The slight breeze at our back took our scent before us and no deer showed themselves today. We could hear them in the brush alongside the road. We could also hear the gentle rustle of the dried grass of the meadows as the wind moved across creating wave upon wave.

In the dim morning light the meadows appeared less "seas of grass" than the tawny pelt of some enormous creature, rustling, rousing itself after a long night's sleep - the haw-hawing of the crows startling us and startling the meadow creature awake.

The 7:15 train rumbled in the distance and then blasted its warnings as it reached the crossings in our small town. 

Ah, and DH was impatient today. There was little time for a wandering mind and bad photos.**

As we headed for home the boys far outpaced the girls. I had seen a vision just past the candy cane house (Our neighbors are all decorated for the holidays. We are not.) - someone had been cleaning at the cat man's house. The trash cans were full. Sticking out of the containers were old, tired brooms and a mop...the tired or, perhaps, the retired.

Retirement

DH and Walker

As I snapped away - unhappy with each image - a disembodied voice called something from the garage.

 "Excuse me?" I replied.

 "Are you going to make a collage?" came the voice again.

"No," I replied. "I just thought this looked cool and wanted a photo for my blog. I write about my walks."

Then, out of the garage came Jane. We chatted for a good while. She was the creative mind behind the interesting trash assemblage. I learned quite a bit in our short visit. She "is what 67 looks like." And, yes, she is an artist - mixed media - acrylic and fiber. She shares her home with "two and a half cats."

"A half?" I inquired.

"Yes, I discovered one in the rafters of the garage," she explained. "It looks exactly like one of mine, so I named it Ditto and only count it as a half."***

I must admit I had to ask her name a second time before my rusty memory devices worked. **** Then Jane headed off to work and I headed home, wondering when I would see DH driving towards me. I had tarried too long and he would have started to worry.



Ah, Paddy and I were two blocks from home before DH could be seen driving our direction. He saw us too and headed back around the block.*****

Time to take cars to the shop, eat breakfast, and perhaps put up some lights.


NOTES:

*  I have tried to capture samples of the carpets (in some spots) and rugs (in others) of the fallen leaves. We expect a front tonight/tomorrow. I have learned that my procrastination - I will stop and take a picture another day - allows too many images escape. The leaves will (hopefully) be scattered in the wind.

**  I have been shopping for cameras. I decide on one when another - for a few dollars more- offers better this or that and I am once again undecided. The broken new camera has made me overly cautious. I have researched "lens error" and found it common and difficult/impossible to repair. Bummer.

***  How appropriate for a cat lady to move into the cat man's house.

**** "Jane" might have been the name of YC had I known about my great great grandmother's second set of twins and named my only set accordingly (and had I not been opposed to giving all of the children "J" names).

***** Is it not strange that we can avoid worry when we are thousands of miles apart  for months at a time, but just be 10 minutes late on a walk and it is necessary to send out a search party? [OK. Maybe it was 20 minutes.]

# http://www.nytimes.com/2013/11/25/nyregion/rake-the-leaves-some-towns-say-mow-them.html?_r=0 (sorry, tired of asterisks).

BREAKFAST

Tacos - choriso, huevos, y frijoles

Came back to comment on breakfast and this photo was missing - Huevos 

rancheros and more.

Krakens and Petey the dog and, of course, a few deer.

Really, we needed to walk.

We had all been inside too much with the past three days of frigid weather. The weather channels all said it was below freezing. It was misty and wet, but there was no ice on the street or sidewalk outside the house, so we risked it.

RELEASE THE KRAKENS!*

DH took Scruffy and I took Paddy. We don't usually have good experiences walking them on a regular leash (we use a double lead and they walk together), but today they cooperated. [This means no one tripped, no one strained a muscle, and no one wrapped themselves around a sign pole.]

Scruffy waiting patiently. I just wanted a photo, but he wanted a cookie!

Paddy always moves...just too distracted. This was the only one not blurred ("If Scruffy gets a cookie, I do too!")

We walked slowly and carefully for the first few blocks, testing the road and sidewalks. Still, no ice presented and we grew brave with each step. The dogs too, hustled down the street, willing to test who was truly Alpha (Our guys still have not established dominance. Each behaves in a manner indicating dominance at times. And they will race down the street, only momentarily distracted by one good scent or a hamburger wrapper, to see which will be lead dog).It makes for a spirited walk.

We were passed by a truck as we walked into the park. "It looked like Petey!" I said, commenting on the pit bull, ears un-cropped, leering out the window on the passenger side. "Too big." replied DH.

It IS nice to have a companion who "gets" your references (to television shows that kept one glued to the tube at 7 years of age. I suspect my children have see re-runs. I think the shows we saw were re-runs, perhaps re-runs of re-runs..).

I looked  to see where the truck parked and saw deer running at the edge of the woods bordering the river. "Look at the deer!" I suspect I repeated it twice more. [For some reason one cry is not enough - it must be "Look at the deer! Look at the deer! Look at the deer!"] I tried to be patient as I pointed them out to DH, who must sometimes think I am seeing things or just "making it up" so I have something to write about. The deer moved behind a building and then showed themselves for a few seconds more before crossing the fence into the old golf course. [There were three does, in case you wondered.]

Just before we spied the deer, DH had warned me, "If you are going down the trail, you are going by yourself!" I think we both realized there would be some mud and neither of us wanted to risk ruining such a nice walk. And I had to include that comment as it is perfectly DH.

That was it. We had a nice walk. The dogs behaved. We saw three deer far in the distance. Then we examined one of the neighborhood trees damaged by a storm a few weeks ago. The damage looks terrible from a distance, but only a close examination shows the true violent result of that weather.

Almost 1/3 of the tree sheared off.

From the other side

Probably an 8 foot gash.

Odds and ends:

Softball lost in the woods. Yes, I am that person. I picked it up for catch with Paddy. Scruffy never learned to play.

Wild seeds of the purple leatherflower.

Dead tree full of blackbirds against a grey sky.

* Yeah, I know. This is so corny. But we say it all the time, so I am sharing it here. [http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gb2zIR2rvRQ ]

Cold and dark...did I mention COLD?

We have had our first of what appears to be a series of cold fronts coming through this weekend. The next few days will be exciting.

Yesterday there was ice - on railings and steps, but only a little on our roadways. DH and I both took the day off from work to assist with a move. We took the bridges and overpasses slowly. We had no trouble, but we saw that others did.

It was (and still is) in the 20s when we woke. The pups were inside for the night and would need a good walk. [Perhaps that is why we have pets - they encourage us to get our exercise, even on days when we want to stay under the covers.] DH and I agreed we needed to stretch our muscles and loosen our joints after walking up and down stairs uncountable times yesterday. We dressed in our warmest gear (or almost warmest gear. DH has some fur-lined parkas that are unbelievably warm AND unwieldy.) and headed to the park.

Nanook (Or Army Santa with dogs instead of reindeer).

We celebrated finding the streets and sidewalks dry. The dogs have taken me on an unexpected sledding adventure on ice (and through mud) before. It isn't fun and it isn't pretty. It is hard enough to manage the big animals. I fear I am getting too old for large dogs.

The Christmas lights were bright along our walk. Our neighbors have been busy. (We, as usual, are late.) We noticed the decorated wire deer in one yard. I took their photo - perhaps the only deer we would see today. [Don't deer "go to ground" and stay in some protected cover when its dark and the cold winter wind blows? ]

Decorations. I thought the white spots came from dust on the sense...figured it out later.

The sky was overcast and the clouds delayed the dawn. But we were also a little earlier than recent walks on lazy weekends. Then I thought I heard tiny "tick, tick, ticks" on my hood. I turned to face the wind and felt the small snowflakes against my cheeks.

"It's snowing!" was my comment to DH. "Huh?" was his reply, but he turned on his flashlight* and the flurries were illuminated in its beam.

This is what snow flurries look like in the flash of my old camera - (I should have saved this and said it was a meteor shower).

We laughed and decided that we might be some of the few to see these flurries...most sensible people were still in bed, or at least inside and warm. And, good man that he is, DH began to suggest we turn around. "This could get messy," said he. "So, go home and get the car," I responded. "You can come pick us up in the park."

And we walked on in silence for a bit. We watched the wind blow the snow across the side streets before depositing it in the cracks along the curbs and sidewalks.

As we approached the bottom of the last hill Scruffy perked up and spun around - gaining our attention in time for us to see the herd of deer running up from the creek, across the street, and into the park. Paddy too caught on and I suddenly had two hunting dogs on the leash.

We walked (or should I say I was dragged) into the park to see the deer (four good sized does) under the pecans. They were not happy to see us and continued their race across the front part of the park across the park road and, finally, into the woods beyond. The dogs were insistent that we follow. So we walked to the dirt track and headed towards the first meadow.

The dogs chased every scent. They tried to head down the deer paths that run off here and there all along the road. And it grew light. The wind blew the the grasses in the meadow. And all was quiet save the wind and a few birds with their morning songs. Paddy leaned against me and I felt her warmth - reminding me just how cold I was starting to be, in spite of the layers of clothing.

Time to turn for home.

"Darn," I said (laughing) to DH. "Didn't I tell you that you could go get the car and pick us up in the park?"

He laughed too and reminded me that I had wanted a good stretch this morning.

We walked home noticing that the flurries had stopped. But the bitter winter wind continued to blow.

Scruff with our mini "snowdrift" in the cracks of the park bridge

 

Only the camera could see the flurries in the park. The deer are in the shadows.

Let's go home for breakfast!

*No, it is not the yellow flashlight I offered the neighbor who was searching for his dog a week or so ago. We are still waiting for its return (flashlight, not dog). DH reminded me of this a number of times before admitting that he too had agreed to the loan. Perhaps there will be one in his stocking in a few weeks.

First long fall walk - almost waited too long...

We started late, but all of us needed to be outside. We all needed to stretch our legs and work out the soreness - from inaction for some and too much exercise for others.

Paddy and Scruffy were so excited it was hard to engage the leash.

About half-way to the park we were accosted by a dog who often terrorizes the pups and me. He is not a guard dog. He is a watch dog. He watches and barks like a maniac, but he does not pursue us. Still, why is he off-leash? Why is he loose in the front yard? It is not really safe for those passing by and is not safe for any animal to be unrestrained along this busy road.

This guy is NOT our friend.

As we reached the bottom of the hill, Paddy tried to cross the street three times. She was more than ready to be in the park, but we waited until we were all together and The park was almost empty and we decided to take the dirt road to see what might be happening in the meadows.

Deer made noises in the brush on either side of the road. We all heard them. The dogs could smell them and we noticed many tracks on the road. But no deer would break the cover of the woods.

We were about to leave the park when we saw two big does run up from the creek and traverse the empty lot across the street from the park. Then they cleared the roadway and headed into the woods.

The dogs saw nothing, but caught the sent in the air, too late, too late.

We noticed many tiny things: the nightshade tomatoes, the fuzzy topped goldenrod stalks, the waves of dried grass, the wild seeds of the purple leather flower and some strange fungus that appeared like stones along the dirt road.

Looks like a rock to me.

This one too.

But there aren't rocks like this on the road.

It is some kind of puff-ball or other fungus.

The first meadow is a sea of grass.

Grass seeds ready to blow off the stem.

Fuzzy tops of the goldenrod.

More seeds to torment us next summer.

My companions "patiently" waiting.

 

Poisonous nightshade fruit - some color on this brown/grey day.

Mistletoe ready for the season.

There were only a few insects showing they had survived our minor freeze this week. Some butterflies and dragonflies still flitted through the fields. And one yellow jacket hid inside an old container.

Yellow jacket - moving slowly.

Sound of a fall evening walk.

Part 1 - Middle aged walkers:

     Lumber - swish* - lumber...
     Lumber - swish - lumber...
     Lumber - swish - lumber...

Part II - Middle aged dogs: 

     Crunch, crunch, crunch, crunch...sniff/sneeze
     Crunch, crunch, crunch, crunch....sniff/sneeze
     Crunch, crunch, crunch, crunch...sniff/sneeze

Part III - Neighbors trying to get home this evening before a holiday:

     rrrrRRRRrrrr, rrrRRRrrr. rrrrRRRRRRrrrr....SLAM!

Now, read all three parts at once (you might need three readers to get the actual impact), varying your pauses and repeat for about 30 minutes.


*Outerwear for cold days has that plastic "swish" going...

NOTE: Broke my camera - no new photos until Saturday unless I find the old one.

Little dog lost

Well, I know that many of you have been worrying about poor Abby - the boxer lost in the cold and rainy weather.

Today, as we were walking past the house with the red door - halfway to the park (where Abby's owner said they lived and where we KNEW they lived as Abby often barks at us as we pass by on our walks), the young man from two nights ago ran out of the red door. His arms were full of books and we surmised he was a student, almost late for class.

I shouted, "Did you find Abby?" He looked up and said they did. "Are you the neighbors (don't you love that word?) who loaned me the flashlight?" Then he ran back into the house to retrieve it.

The dogs and I kept walking and DH waited for the flashlight. [After all, we got it on a "training" vacation in the Texas hill country. It came from the last Gibson's store in the world. I had no idea how attached DH was to the flashlight until I had sent it out into the night with the unknown neighbor - that word again - and was reminded by my sweet boy.]

DH caught up with us a block or so down the street. He was still missing a small yellow flashlight, but did have a great story.

It seems the neighbors searched for Abby most of the night. The flashlight came in handy. They finally found her near a fried chicken place about two miles away. [I am sure they just set the flashlight down and collapsed when they got home.]

So, there you go, a little Thanksgiving miracle.

[We will update you on the status of DH's flashlight. I may have to drive to that Gibson's to get a new one for his stocking!]

It was a cold and rainy night.

The dogs were going wild tonight. They barked as if preparing to repel an invasion. They barked madly - first on one side of the yard, then on the other.

DH and I jumped up (we were waiting to bring them inside - it will be a long long night - they need as much time outside as possible - the bad weather expected will likely keep them inside for much of the day tomorrow) and ran into the rain, into the darkness. I stopped only for a flashlight. DH was right behind me (I am not going to say that he "poo-poos" me when he thinks something is not serious, but sometimes I have to nudge him a bit. And we both essentially trust the other's judgement.).

Upon arriving outside in the dark drizzle we had barking dogs in one ear and a shouting, clapping young man in the other. I moved the flashlight around and yelled to him. [Every now and again Paddy escapes. We were only half afraid that she was out of the yard, protecting us and terrorizing the shouting neighbor.]

Our guys were at the gate - still safely in the back yard. But other dogs were not so fortunate tonight. It seems the young man's dog had escaped. He was blocks from their house calling for her.

He walked over to us, described the dog (boxer) and gave us her name (Abby). I asked if he lived halfway to the park. "Yes," he said, "red door." I handed him the flashlight and he assured me he would bring it back. I suggested he leave it on his front porch. We will walk by and pick it up tomorrow or the next day.

The man (we never asked his name) headed back into the storm, calling for his pup. We calmed Paddy and Scruffy - our potential disaster averted.

We can only think that he must have accidentally let Abby out of the front door and she "took off." He didn't even have time to stop for his coat or a hat or a flashlight.

I was a little miffed at myself for not offering at least a cap, but I only thought about it after he was gone and we were back inside drying off.

This will be one of those nights - not fit for man nor beast. Hopefully Abby will tire of her ramble and return home.

[Faucets are covered, sheets are thrown over tender plants, and we are almost ready for the cold front due in the early morning hours.]

Cold autumn day...

Finally the foot was feeling better. I talked DH into a quick walk before the threatened winter weather closed in.

I have been meaning to capture the changing colors of the foliage in the neighborhood for days, but never had the chance. It has rained many days. On others I have raced to the office and returned after dark.

Today would have to be the day.

The grey sky kept the full brightness of the leaves from showing, but perhaps these photos will document that we do have seasons here...though some are very short.

DH and the pups and I were late this morning, but there was little traffic. The cold temps seem to have kept people in their beds. There were still newspapers to be moved closer to the doors of our elderly neighbors. [DH was in control of the dogs for part of the walk. I was taking pictures. He made a point of gesturing to the newspaper and the neighbor's porch, reminding me of my duty as the dogless one.]

We noticed more trees, weakened first by the drought, damaged by recent storms.*

Our intermittent park creek was still flowing from the rains. We wondered if it would be only edged in ice tomorrow, or if the ice will cover the surface. We will walk and see if there is only snow. We won't walk (slide) on the ice.

OK. That's it. Well, that's it except for the tuxedo cat we saw in a window. He watched us as we walked by, probably wondering why we were out on this cold day.

I have been watching THIS TREE! It has been so lovely.

Tuxedo cat watching the dogs.

Seriously - this guy was not sure what he thought of the pups.

1/3 of this pecan split in the last bad storm.

Pecan in the park damaged as well.

Dogs weren't sure what I was doing, but stopped to look. Movement of camera into and out of the pocket is the same as cookies in the pocket so I suspect they were looking for a treat.

Stream with water!

Stream was running clear.

One of my favorite park trees.

China berries - need a sibling for a china berry fight!

Red leaves in places in the neighborhood.

Walking companions

I think our neighbors planted this tree just for me.

Look at these maple leaves!

Just outside our back door - the pecan leaves and nandina berries remind me of my grandmother's house.

* http://stateimpact.npr.org/texas/2012/09/25/the-final-numbers-are-in-over-300-million-trees-killed-by-the-texas-drought/

Walking towards the fire

DISCLAIMER:

I should apologize, first to the dogs, then to those who enjoy my walks "second hand," and finally, to my waist.  I have hurt my foot. It's not a big deal. It simply needs ice and an Ace bandage and rest. But it is a slow heal.

So I am not walking often and I am not walking far. Adventures are few. So I am catching up here. There will be a mixed bag of posts until I have more stamina and less pain (I am a wuss. Ask my family.). But I am motivated. My warm blue jacket that has walked the hills of Ireland is more than snug. Time for change! And change is coming. [More about that over the next few months.]

WALK:

Today we were up early - "No, I don't want to walk at 5 on a Saturday," growled DH. And then we were up late - "It's 7. Let's go!" encouraged the sore-footed walker.

We "geared up" as it was 68 degrees in the house. Who knew how cold it would be outside (apparently 50 or so). Coffee made, pockets filled with keys and cookies and plastic bags, but cell phones were AWOL. "My cell is dead, where's yours?" "Call me on the house phone." [Yes, we still have a home phone, perhaps for just this reason.] Ah, there is is...with all the pocket detritus of yesterday.

As we headed down the street we noticed the sun was rising in line with the street. It was as if we were walking towards a fire.

DH wastes no time and walks ahead with the pups so they don't shake the camera

We walk towards a bright orange sky.

The light is blinding as the sun....rises.

We continued down the street until the dogs "did their business" as my uncle used to say. [This is not a political or social comment. This is simply what my uncle called it. It was a different time. There were no hundetoiletten.]

As I stopped to be a responsible dog owner, DH continued back up the street with the pups. Paddy would have none of it. She stopped, legs splayed. She turned her body to look towards me. I had to laugh. Whether she thought I had more cookies for her or she recognized I was injured and moving slowly or she just didn't want me to be left behind, she stopped cold and waited.

So, it was short cool walk on a bright Saturday morning. Time changes tonight. It will be dark on future walks.