The River Wild

I keep wanting to call the brook behind the house a creek, because that is what they're called in Alberta. In Nova Scotia though they are called brooks, I don't know if the word creek denotes an upgrade from a brook or if all creeks are brooks here. You can call it whatever you like but the dogs call it a constant source of interest. The brook is for a quick drink and to sniff the smells of whatever has recently stopped for a break along its banks. It's cute that the dogs all are fascinated by things that float in the water. The movement attracts them and like good hounds they follow the leaf or twig as it makes its way to wherever brook flotsam goes. Leeloo sometimes tries to grab it and in her frustration she smashes at it with her feet. The splashing usually curtails this activity poste haste.

The Boy is a watcher. I'm not sure if the time he spends watching things float around, or fly, or blow in the wind is him being thoughtful or being especially slow on the uptake. He is definitely thinking about whatever is floating in the water but I can't always tell if he understands what's happening. Either way it's adorable. Boy trying to think ... so cute.

If you can see your way past that handsome fellow and look behind him to all that junk along the creek banks you'll get some small idea of what I have to clean up in order to make the paths safe and traversable. And also make it look nice because really ... who wants to look at that mess. One of the problems is where to put all that junk. I'm tossing it into the woods off my property but I still don't want to be able to see it. I am not burning it so don't even try - there is no way I'm having a burn-pit on my property, they are ugly, unsafe and ugly. No thanks.

Not one to leave everything to me, Cora lends a hand. She is extremely good about making sure she knows where I am in the woods and checks in on a regular basis. I'm sure with time and 'wisdom' that will change. It always does. Those eyes still slay me and the bright intelligence sparkling out of them worries me just a little.

Speaking of smart, Leeloo does a lot of stopping and thinking these days. Perhaps here she is stopping to think what that low humming sound is that's coming from her right. It's a bee hive, a rather large one I think, inside a very large tree stump. Thankfully I am sure it's bees, and not wasps (we already found those) and I don't mind bees. They are a lot more sensible than wasps and they won't bother us if we leave them alone. The wasp incident involved Boy being stung multiple times on the head and Cora at least once or twice on her back and tummy. Wasps are serious business so we're careful when we pass that hive.

In all the length of creek/brook the dogs will ultimately have immediate access to is about 60 or 70 feet long and will likely be full and inaccessible for a large part of the Spring. Best to get the sniffies out of the way now before the snows set in, can't wait to see what leaves tracks in my neck of the woods ... Cora can't wait either.