This morning I went out for my long walk in preparation for the 10 mile race coming up in a couple of weeks. The plan was to do 8 miles; my favorite hilly 4 mile loop and then a less hilly 4 mile out and back. The plan changed during the first mile when I had to pass a recently squished groundhog. To avoid having to pass that groundhog three times I decided to do the first 3 miles of my favorite hilly 4 mile loop, then turn around and do 2 of those miles in the other direction, add a different 2.5 out and back and then head for home, holding my breath when I passed said deceased groundhog while looking studiously the other way. Good plan.
Since I wasn’t going to carry a camera I thought I’d share my walk with you through the sounds I heard along the way. Think of this as an audio nature report. You get to add the visual through your own imagination. You’re welcome to come along:
Early in the walk I am amused by the sounds of brown squirrels barking angrily at me from high up in massive old oaks and tall hickory trees. Then, while I am focusing on the trees, trying to find the squirrels, there comes a startling rustle from the tall grass near the edge of the road. About 6 inches from my left foot! A very much alive groundhog hustles for safety under cover of the grass to his drain pipe underneath a driveway. And before I can recover from that a loud swooshing noise makes me literally jump as hundreds of blackbirds sweep up and out of the trees overhead, then swarm around and land, only to sweep up into the sky over and over. The sound is amazing and indescribable.
Chugging up a hill I tried to keep my steps and even my breathing silent as I creep past a house that has three dogs in the yard. They have never actually come out into the road, but they bark a lot, and it was such a peaceful morning that I don’t want to incite them. Success! On beyond the dogs’ house I head downhill and approach a tight corner. I’m on the inside where cars coming up the hill and rounding the corner can’t see me. I hear a car coming up behind me so I can’t cross to the other side of the road. I remind myself that one car’s noise can often cover up a second car’s approach so I slow down. Sure enough just as the first car passed me another, undetected, came toward me from around the corner. As I hopped up the bank to give the car room I make up a saying: “A wise country walker is vigilant at all times.”
Moving down the hill, coming out of the woods and heading across the wetlands a young male cardinal chirps at me from the underbrush along the road and later bright yellow and green goldfinches chatter happily as they hop among the grasses of the marsh. As I approach the backside of town I listen to the rumble of a train coming and the hum of air conditioning units straining under the rising heat of another summer day.
I turn around in town, the end of mile 3, and walk back toward the marsh this time moving on the other side of the road. A bit of water gurgles down the drainage ditch, widening and getting deeper as it gets closer to a stream. At the bottom of the hill small frogs plop from the sides of the ditch landing splat into the water. A chickadee goes through his litany of calls, then hops out to the end of a branch to watch me go by.
Back up into the cool dark woods I climb, the hum of the frogs in the swamp replaced by the higher pitched hum of bugs accented by what I think of as the “futuristic bug,” the one with the high pitched electronic sound that starts and stops, gaining in volume then cutting out. I creep by the dogs’ house again and sigh in relief as I make the edge of their property without hearing their excited barking. I’m further along the road, under the canopy of trees and hidden by the brush when I hear: “DON’T GO THERE! DON’T GO THERE!” I stop…consider…and wait to hear what’s next. Then I hear: “GOOD DOG!” I laugh -and mosey on.
Now I’m five miles into my walk and I’m begin to have trouble with my IT band. That’s a muscle or ligament or something that holds your kneecap in place. I think. Anyway the inside of my right knee is starting to get sore, and it is distracting me from the sights and sounds of walking in the woods. It’s making me watch where I place my feet and not the scenery. I began to hear nothing except the argument in my head. Should I head for home and just do 6 miles? Or continue on and risk injury? A lawn mower sputters to life somewhere nearby. The argument continues. But just before the corner where I must make a decision I begin to walk on pavement after miles of walking on uneven dirt roads. The knee feels much better now. It’s still a beautiful day. I had committed to 8 miles. Heck I still have water left in my bottle so I continue on.
Now the sound of the freeway dominates my walk. But along the way a chipmunk scurries into the underbrush sounding like something much larger. A blue-jay cries. Mourning doves coo. I notice the sun is beating down and there are no woods to hide in. The booming of a radio alerts me to a car coming up from behind and I step onto the shoulder.
Mile 7 and my knee is no longer having a good time. Soon I’m not hearing any sounds other than my knee shouting at me and my mind berating my bad decision. By mile 8 I’m considering hitch hiking. Then with half a mile to go I’m just watching my feet and slowly slogging away. One more hill, one more corner. I stand in my neighbor’s sprinkler to rest. I wonder about this whole 10 mile walk thing which is coming up in two weeks as I hobble home.
Now I’m sitting with the leg up, ice on the knee. Katie is licking the salty slime off the rest of me. Silly girl. They say what doesn’t kill you makes you strong.
Here’s hoping that’s true.
Katie hates our truck. So it’s been a tough week for her because our SUV, the one with her comfy crate in the back, has been at the shop getting fixed. That means that any far away adventures she and I might want to experience requires using the truck! The big blue scary truck! Her general reaction when presented with the open truck door is to run the other way, pull frantically on her leash and if possible paw at the front door trying to get back inside the safety of her home. We don’t understand why. But then there are so many of her sheltie-isms that we don’t understand.
So this week’s training challenge was to get her less afraid of the truck. And of course to continue to work on the lunging at cars thing. Because last week’s work sure didn’t translate to her behavior here at home. At all.
All week, whenever she and I went anywhere we used the truck. To the park? Great! Get in the truck! See? Not so scary! Go for a ride? Sure! Get in the truck! See? That was fun! Go get nails trimmed at the groomer? Get in the truck. Uh oh. Big mistake on mama’s part. She hates the groomer and shook the entire ride. How does she know she’s not going to the park or the pet store? I have no idea. Must be sheltie-vision or something.
All in all though she’s getting over most of her fear of the truck. A couple evenings ago when I asked her if she wanted to go to the park she ran out the front door and stood expectantly beside the truck. GOOD GIRL! And yesterday as we were going out to do her job we walked by the truck and she stopped, looked at the truck door, then at me like -HEY MOM! Can we go go to the PARK?
So later in the day she and I headed out on another adventure in the big blue truck. We had to head toward town and get some gas first, which is in the opposite direction from our usual route to the park. Katie looked at me and was obviously trying to telepathically inform me that I was going the wrong way. And that it worried her, because the groomer is on this route, don’t you know.
She did really well at the gas station. I was worried because it was hot and even though the windows were open I didn’t want her in there too long without the air. So I fumbled through the transaction, taking longer than normal because I had to keep checking on her.
As soon as I turned on the car she enjoyed the air conditioning!
Then since we were halfway to town I took her the rest of the way in, figuring we could walk on some neighborhood sidewalks where we’ve never been before and work on that lunging at cars problem.
I parked a block off main street and headed toward the residential district. I totally forgot that this street was a cut through for traffic. It was nonstop cars. And several motorcycles. And quite a few trucks…some pulling giant boats. NOISY! Every time there would be a string of cars I asked Katie to sit. I kept telling her to stay, stay…and when she sat through the whole line she’d get her cheese. I think I was more freaked out than she was. There was WAY TOO MUCH TRAFFIC for me! And it was way too close. She did really well but obviously I need more training.
We only went about two blocks, mostly because I forgot to bring a poopy bag with me, and these houses all had beautiful green manicured lawns. I just KNEW if we went very far I’d have an embarrassing situation on my hands. So to speak. We walked back to the car, got a drink and headed out to our nice peaceful park. She did some heeling work and long sits and downs like an expert. I’ve got her (and me too I guess!) signed up for a Rally trial Sept 12.
I need more practice.
My aunt called me the other evening and suggested we meet midway between our homes and pick a few blueberries. While it’s still blueberry season.
It’s been so hot. Oh yes, I think I already told you that, but anyway…it’s been so hot I haven’t wanted to go out and pick any fruit, though as a kid we always went strawberry, cherry, and blueberry picking. And as an adult I used to try really hard to carry on the tradition. But picking fruit alone turns out to be less of a fun adventure and more like hard work. Especially when it’s hot. Which it is. As you know.
Anyway, we decided to get there when they opened, early in the morning before the heat became intolerable and as luck would have it we drove into a heavy mist as we approached the blueberry farm.
And I confirmed once again that picking fruit with someone on the other side of the row is much more fun that wistfully listening in on other family’s discussions.
Yum!
It’s been so warm here, the kind of warm I remember from childhood. You remember…when you were a kid before houses had air conditioning and you slept on top of your sheets with your pj’s sticking to you and the window of your bedroom open so that the hot air outside could mingle with the hot air inside and your skin felt sticky and your pillow was hot…well…that’s how hot it’s been here these past couple of weeks.
Yesterday morning we woke to fog, and it felt a bit cooler, though maybe that was just an illusion brought on by the gray light and the cooling droplets of mist that stuck to my face and in my hair. Since I’m still “in training” for that big 10 mile race coming up at the end of the month I decided I’d take myself for a walk before the sun got too strong and burned away the only bit of cool we’ve had in a long time.
So off I went. The first mile ended at an overpass where as I watched the cars I realized that I was lucky I wasn’t headed off to work when so many people had to, especially those that were getting ready for a new school year to begin.
I’ve been thinking that I need to find work somewhere, and that the odds of me finding it as a librarian are slim…and getting slimmer. Maybe I’m going to have to start expanding the criteria of work that I’m willing to do. Maybe I’ll have to defer the dream job for awhile. Though it sure was fun to dream.
Deep in contemplation I walked further down roads I haven’t walked in a good long time. Past the golf course which was surprisingly (to me anyway) busy for a foggy weekday morning.
I walked six miles in total, and as the fog lifted I came across my favorite photo of the walk – the side of a barn covered in vines and layers of paint.
Isn’t it beautiful? It’s sat on the side of this road for many years and I wonder how many people have enjoyed it’s colors prior to me wandering by. It spoke to me, as if to say; “I’ve been around a long time and I’m still here. You’ll weather this economic downturn fine… you may end up with a few surprising colors of paint, but you’ll survive…just like me.”
It was a good walk.
…but then I went outside and found this!
🙂
Remember how scared Katie used to be of walking on her board, then we got her over that, added the 2 inch pipe under the board so it rocked and that was terrifying…then we got her over that, and made the pipe bigger – oh so scary!!! And we got her over that…
Well NOW we can’t get her OFF of her tiny teeter!
I’ve been playing with her in the back yard, with her jumps and tunnel and chute…
And of course she has no problem doing chute at home (unlike when she’s in school where she avoids it at all costs)…
…but what she likes best is her teeter! She runs out of the house and lands on the teeter each time we go out to play.
Silly girl. I ordered her a teeter base so we’ll have a regulation size teeter soon.
Hope she’s still as excited about it then!
Katie the Sheltie-girl and I have accepted a challenge from Ricky to head out each week and attempt to work on something that really makes her crazy. We’re trying to do a bit of behavior modification and the challenge is helping us step up and get some much needed work done.
We’re not the only ones working on this challenge. You can see the whole list of people and their pups that are working on tough stuff over at Ricky’s blog; dogs like Sara’s Oreo and Misty, or Marie’s sheltie Dare, Kathy’s Breeze or Patti’s Brutis and Tytus. In fact there are so many people working on trouble spots with their dogs that you really need to go over to Ricky’s blog and look! The list is on the right side of Ricky’s blog and you can read all about everyone’s adventures on their blogs because we’re all going to write about our experiences each Sunday.
Soooooo….what did Katie and I do this week? Well, you may or may not know that Katie lunges at cars, and if she weren’t always on a leash I’m afraid she’d run right out into the street after them. She barks hysterically and is pretty hard to handle whenever we’re out and a car goes by. She doesn’t like bicycles either, or joggers, or anyone or anything that goes by fast, especially if they make any noise. So Friday we headed to a park where the first mile of the path runs parallel to the road. I don’t usually take her there for a walk because it’s just no fun, worrying about her lunging and barking, and possibly pulling out of her collar.
The first thing we did was hang out at the top of the path, where it crosses the road. Each time a car went by I’d tell her to sit and stay. If she managed to do that without barking or lunging at the car she’d get a treat. As the first car went by she took off barking; she got a correction and no treat. And she knew I had treats with me! She’s used to getting something if she sits and stays, but she blew it when she took off after that car. And she knew it.
As the second car approached I told her to sit and stay. She sat, looked at me, looked at the car, looked at me. I reinforced the word “STAY!” She looked at the car. You could see the muscles in her shoulders bunch up. But she didn’t move anything except her head as she watched it go by.
Well GOOD GIRL Katie! She got lots of praise and treats. And the light bulb went off, you could actually see her think about what was going on. We started down the pathway which descends a long hill. Lots of people were out on their bikes…
…each time one came past I’d pull her off the path and put her in a sit. She watched them go by, wanting to bark, but not doing it. She got treats.
See her ears go flat?
That’s because two little boys just went by on razors which made loud clacking noises. She sat still for them as they passed us, but just after she couldn’t handle it anymore and reacted with flattened ears, running up to me. She got a treat because she came to her mama rather than chasing the children.
And of course when I saw a woman on roller blades coming down the hill as we were headed back up I put Katie into a sit. It wasn’t fair though because Katie had her back to the woman, and just after this picture was snapped she leaped into the air, surprised as the rollerblader swooped past. My fault. Guess the mama needs to work on stuff as well! But Katie didn’t bark at her, nor try to give chase.
We spent a good couple of hours walking up and down the path, watching people go by.
We even sat under a tree across the street from the golf course where lots of cars were coming and going. She watched, once in awhile she checked in with me, and I kept saying “good stay Katie!” and she chose to stay. Good girl!
I don’t know if she’s broken the habit. I’ll have to proof her in a few more places. Like in our driveway where she’s at home and feels a bit more like Queen of the Hill. I think in the park she felt slightly out of place, was more intimidated and more likely to follow directions.
I’ll have to see if all this translates to behavior at home.
I’ve won an award – someone thinks I’m a “versatile blogger!” Check out Carol’s (my nominator) blog to see her own list. Hmmmm. Here I always thought I was just a somewhat disorganized and scattered blogger – you know, talking about whatever whenever. Versatile is such a better term. Don’t you think?
And look! I was even able to get this lovely versatile blogger thingy to show up as well! Amazing. Perhaps what I actually am is a technically versatile blogger. OK. Maybe that’s a stretch. Now stop laughing!
So anyway I’m supposed to tell you 7 amazing and previously unknown things about me. Right. Like you don’t already know all the amazingly interesting things about me and my life. Especially about my dog. Of course there are some of you, the “newbies,” who haven’t been around for my entire blogging ride. So I might cheat a tiny bit and throw in a few things that some of you might already know. Or I might not.
Here goes: Seven Amazing Things You Don’t Know About Me! (This feels somewhat like standing on the high dive above a high school pool)
1. I don’t really have a favorite color. When asked that question I always stall and then say ‘blue’ because somehow that seems to be the color expected. But really I can’t pick a favorite, they are all so special. Just like kids, each is exactly right.
2. I wish I could have a second dog. Without a fenced yard we have to take the one we have outside on a leash to do her jobs or play. She’s somewhat of a full time job and I can’t see us doing all of this times 2. But still. This is why I’m afraid to volunteer at a shelter; the risk of adding to our family is so big.
3. If I could do anything at all without regard to responsibilities or relationships or commitments I’d sell everything I had…well I’d probably have to give it away because it’s not worth anything…and buy a small recreational vehicle and just travel. I’d stop at anything that looked interesting but I wouldn’t live anywhere at all.
4. I wish I could paint and draw the things that are inside my head. What’s there just doesn’t translate onto paper. Alternatively I wish I could accept that what does transfer is still art.
5. I think soup is the perfect food (other than the fact you can’t eat it with your fingers) and like to collect wonderful recipes. I like to make the soup too and even better, share it with family and friends.
6. I never had children, but I would like to put a child through college. Somehow. More than the education, the college experience is such a life-changing experience and so important to the total growth of anyone. I’d like a child somewhere to know that if they stay in high school, get the grades that are required for college, then they’re going to be able to go.
7. Sometimes I forget how old I am. Most of the time I still believe I can do all the things I’ve ever dreamed of doing. And when I take a moment to look back I’m kind of amazed at all I’ve already done. But I’m not finished. Not by a long shot.
So thanks Carol for asking me to play! I think I’m supposed to name some new people to pass this award to…but I’m not good at that. So I invite all of you to sit still for a moment and think of 7 amazing things about yourself. It’s a good exercise – to take the time to think positive thoughts about yourself. Can you come up with 7? It’s not that easy; most of us were brought up to be modest – not taught to toot our own horn. But it’s worth a try. Because each of you have way more than 7 interesting and amazing traits that you could explore.
And if you want to share them – cool! I’d be eager to learn more about you all.
Change Is Hard 
