A Beautiful, Sunny Day

Simply delightful. The temperature reached 40f and the dogs and I enjoyed a nice walk through the hilly woods, those are the woods above the swamp where oaks and maples and poplars take over from the cedar, spruce and tag alders. We haven't been up there much as it's closer to the houses in town, so there wasn't a nicely compacted trail through the snow. Consequently there was a lot of high stepping by the 3 of us to make our way through. Very tiring but the dogs had a great time.

Of course, we also walked our regular trail through the swamp as it's the way to Uncle Butch's house. A day cannot go by that we don't go there, Rocket and Luna MUST see Uncle Butch, his biscuits, and Yogi and Tank, too.

I also threw the frisbee for Luna a lot today. She sure enjoys chasing that thing, catching it when I throw it high but usually it goes long and hits the ground long before she can get under it. When she doesn't bring it back she likes to roll on top of it. I'm not sure of the significance of that move, but I know she'd do the same thing if she found a dead fish or other dead animal on the ground. A hunting thing I suppose.

The ducks took a few strolls around the yard too. Their footprints showed they went down to the creek (still frozen, so I took pity on them and broke it open, though I'm not sure if they've noticed yet.) They also wandered into the swamp on the far side of the driveway looking for good things that ducks like to eat.

While they were wandering about Rocket, Luna and I sat on the deck soaking up the sun. A few hundred feet in front of the house on the trail we call "Bambi Highway" I spotted a deer standing in the shadows staring at us, unmoving. Deer freeze like that while they figure out if what they are looking at is dangerous. I kept pointing at it for the dogs but they never noticed. Eventually, 2 more appeared but the dogs were oblivious though Rocket tried, as he knows what I mean when I speak the word "deer". I'm afraid his eyes aren't what they used to be, the cataracts in them make them very cloudy. I wonder if he's capable of seeing much of anything at all?

All this sun meant the snow was melting off the roof and the ice in the gutters and downpout kept it from flowing away from the house. I crawled under the deck and spent an hour banging on the downspout which caused big hunks of ice to shoot out, and placed a plastic trough under the spout to move the water down the hill rather than under the deck into the foundation. There is a huge lake of ice under the deck and I'm sure it can't be good for the retaining wall or the garage.

That was chilly work since I was kneeling in snow and the water/ice soaked my gloves. I am hoping it's going to be as nice tomorrow, but there's a cold front and snow coming Tuesday and it's probable the weather will start changing soon. Still, it was a very nice day.