Yesterday evening, after my daughter and I sweated our way through another berry-picking session, my son wanted to go explore an intriguing forest trail on top of Dan’s mountain.
Seriously, having aerial maps available to the public is an incredible thing that’s easy to overlook being grateful for. This info was just NOT (publicly) available when I was young. It LOOKS like that trail is open for public use - sorta - despite not being part of the park.
So we put Lady in the back of the car and set out to hike it - and see if it’s possible to drive down.
There were nice, level, relatively smooth sections, but also sections with massive puddles (one verging on being a pond), bumpy rocks, and deep ruts. Because we were at a high elevation, literally on top of a mountain, the setting sun came through the trees at a very low angle. Beautiful!
Then we got to the open area. It is vast, and based on the lack of trees growing back may have been an old strip mine. The open area and low foliage was beautiful in its own way. And
There were thousand upon thousands of blueberries. I have never seen so many in one place! Also, the sun had just set, and the sky was gorgeous. It was a wonderful adventure (and Lady actually got tired this time!)
Omie has let herself out the back door a few times since we moved into this house, but we figured she was doing it by accident, since an excited dog jumping at the door could slap the handle & unlatch it. We just hoped she never realized she could open the door, or she'd be letting herself out all the time. Similar to how she's definitely physically capable of jumping our fence, but she believes in the concept of the fence, so hopefully she won't figure that out.
But then today I went out to feed the chicks on the back porch, and left the dogs inside. As I'm putting the lid back on the brooder, I see Omie coming, out of the corner of my eye. Then as I turn to see if J's there in the doorway, I also see an escaped chick I hadn't noticed.
And my good good dog calmly helped me catch it, I told her she was wonderful, and we went back inside together. But like, was she jumping at the door because she saw a loose baby bird, and hit the handle accidentally? Or did she go "oh, that one's out & #1 Human doesn't see it. I better open this door and go help"? I wish I knew.
Why is my yard full of Excavations, following the mole tunnels, and yet my dog can stop and stare intently at the ground this morning, ears cocked, and then dig only this much hole before coming up with a mole in her mouth?