Trails, Trees and Woods

Since I last talked to you, Livy and I have done quite a bit.  We hiked a few new trails...new to us anyway and most of our regular ones too.   One of the new ones was definitely a place we'll return to.  The other was "nothing to write home about" if you know what I mean.

When we arrived at the parking area for the preserve, there were five adults standing outside of their cars.  There were also 5 large...very large dogs standing near them.  None were wearing leashes.

Inhaling deeply as I pulled into a spot across from them, I was concerned about Livy.  She's so small and so friendly, and quite honestly I was worried how they would react to her and vice versa.

Opening up the back hatch to my car, there sat Livy wearing her harness and safety clip.  As I walked passed her I told her "stay" and headed towards the adults saying, "Oh sure, you all have dogs that are well behaved off-leash and I have a 14 month old, high-energy pup who wants to make friends with everyone" as I watched one of the lab mixes head toward my car and Livy.

A woman said, "That's Amy...she's our ambassador.  She always goes first to meet and greet."  And Amy did just that.  She greeted Livy in a confident, friendly manner, then walked back toward the other dogs...two Vislas, a Lab-Pitt mix, and another very large Lab.  

One of the gentlemen headed toward the open hatch and Livy as I made friends with all the other dogs while Amy, the ambassador, stood at my side as if I'd known her for years.  After speaking with the owners I now knew what trail to take and in which direction to head.  Livy and I headed to the trailhead.

We had only hiked about an hour when I decided that we should head back.  Taking a different way back made the trail even more interesting.  Now it was time to get out of the woods and head home as the winds were already beginning to pick up.  Forty to fifty MPH winds were forecast and I wanted to be sure we were HOME.

It was while we were taking our nap that I swear I felt the ground shake.  Livy began barking at whatever it was we heard.  We headed upstairs to see if the Pres knew what was going on.  

So here we are...the Pres and I...staring out the kitchen window at the woods behind us.  Then the Pres said, "Holy crap!  Did you see that tree limb fall?  Look at what it did!"

ME:  "Hon, look at the area by your old deer target.  Do you see what's on the ground?  Can you see it?  It's huge!  It came off the pine, hit that other tree and started a chain reaction.  Do you see it?"

THE PRES:  "Where?  What are you talking about?  I'm looking over here to the right."

The winds continued all night...blowing, whipping and howling.  Just to be safe, when I took Livy outside, I kept her on a leash...just in case our fence had been hit.  The next day I went outside to investigate.  The diameter of the base of this White pine is over five feet.  A branch close to three feet wide at the base broke and about 20' long broke during the storm.  Leaving quite a path of destruction, it only damaged nearby trees.  Our fence was still intact.

still sharing...just stuff