Mid summer walk

I am going to borrow part of a phrase I read in a book called The Book of Ruth by Jane Hamilton, it is only August and the trees are doing a dress rehearsal before autumn gets here.

I was shocked to see these colors at this time. Here they were just hanging around screaming for attention with their bright yellow and orange dresses. My first time around I only had my cell phone camera with me, I took the snap shot scared they wouldn't be around the next day.



You can't be fooled by their colors they have been hanging around for days now, and today I had the chance to use my camera.

I looked around everywhere to see if I could find more, but there was none to be found. Resigned, I kept on my walk hoping to find more peculiar subjects.

I took more pictures, even some with the dogs. Today I was walking four of them, or maybe they
were walking me.

One of them played a trick on me, the black and white dog is called Paco, somehow he decided that he had enough of walking and disappeared, I spent ten minutes looking for him while going back towards his home. There he was, waiting for us, quietly sitting in front of his house. Since he isn't my dog, I was near panic.

I live in an area where there are 168 kilometers of trails going through hills and over streams, a river and small water falls.  

The habitat is left intact beside the paths that are used for snowshoeing and cross country skiing. The owners of the lands have agreed to allow the town to make these trails and maintain them. This makes our area one of the largest network of trails.

The weather this past year has been harsh and lots of trees have fallen due to heavy wind and storms. Everyday this forest unravels a new scenery to behold.

Sometimes during our walk, I run into this elderly gentlemen, I think he told me he was 83 years old, he gets his fire wood from the fallen trees, I think it is a good idea to harvest the dead trees. He drives around his four Wheeler and a made shift trailer, he says this keeps him busy and out of his wife's hair. That is the secret to a long marriage, a busy husband! 

Walking around with dogs also creates opportunities to meet new people, we met some wonderful people, also dog owners,  that have become friends.



I truly appreciate this closeness with nature, it is very grounding.