All in good fun

After spending major time playing with Fable, who is the cutest cat I swear...the sun dragged us out into the chilly temperatures and chillier winds for a long needed hike.

I was bundled up and the pits were raring to run and so we were off.

The forest is all shades of browns and golds with only a few accent pieces thrown in.

The trail is inches of crunchy leaves that make one slow down long enough to enjoy the smells from kicking through them.

This time of year always brings out nature's more sculptural talents.

Odd little abstract pieces.

It is like walking through an art gallery where everything is suspended on invisible wires.

And slightly expressionist in its impact.

The few hold outs of color are few and far between and offer a joyful contrast against a forest buried in monotones.

The dogs dashed ahead, so excited to be out after the miserable weather of the past few days.

They ran through the woods in such dizzying, death defying spurts, that I turned my attention to the view through my lens.

Where the wind has torn away most of the fluff and left only skeletons behind.

We travel fast these days without Ripley. I still stop to listen for the sound of her huff huffing up behind us, but then maybe she is, in spirit.

Domino surprises Charm in a sneak ambush.

Well at least they both got a few laughs out of it.

The breezes on top of the cliffs that once were so welcome on a hot summer day are now forceful hints for us to be on our way.

The bare trees are slowly giving up the solitude of the forest and revealing the surrounding neighborhoods.

What once seemed vast distances are shrinking.

So off we were down the trail to load yet another load of firewood up. Happy dogs who most thoroughly shook off the doldrums of some dreary rainy days.