Into the 70s

Degrees, not years. My dogs are always out on errands with me but they make it well known that car rides do not substitute for walks and after awhile even telling Domino that "sit means sit" doesn't work. So we made a late start for an early evening walk. Everything is turning green so fast.

Today I took along two cameras as my spare battery seems to be kaput.

The forest was full of the buzzing of mosquitoes and I long ago noticed that if I maintain a certain calm frame of mind, they don't bother me much. They seemed spurred on by annoyance.

Not so with ticks and I must admit after a walk every tickle becomes amplified. The dogs have the comfort of Frontline, while I must fend for myself.

But one can't spend a lot of time in the woods and still be subject to the "heebie jeebies".

Though sometimes it does seem extremely odd that the dogs are armed with Frontline and their yearly Lyme's vaccine and Heartguard and yearly heartworm tests...and I am hard pressed to remember to throw some repellent in the car!

Though the mosquitoes have emerged, the fly committees are strangely absent. And though a few honey bees and yellowjackets have been out, it seems very late for a lot of things.

By this time of year the garter snakes are usually plopping happily into the water. And many things have perished, having emerged a little too soon.

Charm has been a bit subdued this spring. Trotting along by my side as though taking Ripley's place. She will be so glad to get back to agility.

Domino is always on the move though, he makes up for the both of them.

So the forest comes to life and we still move through it in silence, communicating through signals when needed and stopping here and there, all lost in our own thoughts. Reading the short hand of the forest as clearly as one might read a book.

We stopped to search for the owl and he was in one of his usual spots, well hidden.

He doesn't pay much attention to us anymore.

Here's a tiny slip of video from our walk. Just lake and dogs and Domino working on his recall on our walks, coming back to check for treats and rock climbing and cooling off. No, I never talk much when we're out...the dogs learned hand signals for walks long ago to avoid scaring off the wildlife.