Cabin Fever

Just back from a good long hour's walk in the woods with the dogs. After yesterday's shut in day we were feeling a little cabin fever. It's scary that it only takes 24 hours for that to happen. I forgot my camera but I don't think it would have been a successful photo day since it's quite overcast and the woods were very dark. It was sort of misting but at a comfortable 5 degrees and no wind it was a very pleasant stroll.


Leeloo is so funny about her walks. She spends most of her time manically running through the trees chasing Archer or being chased by Archer, then stops, looks around for me, approaches, brushes by and smiles up at my face and then carries on her manic runs. I always touch her head or back in response and am rewarded with a wagging tail that trots off to look for trouble. I like that she is thoughtful enough to return to me and express her thanks for the walk. She's the only one who does it. Sigh ... kids today ...

Archer keeps a very close eye on me but that is more due to age and insecurity than anything else. I have faint hope this close contact will carry into adulthood. He always grabs a stick or some bark and entices Leeloo into a chase game and she is usually happy to oblige. They run like maniacs in and out of the trees, onto the path, past me, into the trees again ... round and round. It can get a bit dizzying.


The trick to walking several dogs together and not getting knocked down when they blow by is to not change your course. The second you try to avoid them they could hit you because they're calculating their course based on your location when they're about 10 feet away. If you step to try and avoid a collision chances are good you will end up with one. If you make like a tree and stand still or simply carry on walking as though you don't have an 80 pound missile approaching at break neck speed you are usually pretty safe. They are quite capable of hurtling through a forest without hitting tree trunks so I feel pretty confident they won't take me down. This doesn't mean I don't keep a close eye on them - they are not always watching where they are going! It also doesn't mean they don't emerge from the trees sometimes with long scratches and scrapes long their sides from hitting branches .... which they never seem to notice.


We saw lots and lots of deer prints but no actual deer until right at the end of the walk when Raimi thought he saw something of considerable interest. He shot off around a corner and Leeloo followed but I'm pretty sure she didn't know what he was so interested in. Fortunately he thought whatever it was had run into the school field so he sort of trapped himself enough for me to catch up.


I had to walk the last 300 yards to the truck holding onto him because he just could not get deer out of his brain. It's a good thing he saw it at the end of the walk or I would have been dealing with him bolting into the woods at every moment. It's hard for him to switch gears once he's got a thought in his head. There are so few rattling around in his cavernous skull it's no wonder a big thought has trouble finding the exit.