Well it's finally nice enough and I have enough time to go walk through the woods with the dogs. I lost my job on Friday, but I start a new one in a week. I'll call it a vacation instead of a cut-back. So, since I have all this free time, I decided to go out to some acreage my grandpa has and bring the dogs with me. It's a wonderful place for them, since there aren't fences or leashes and there are usually dead things for them to roll in. More on this later.
On the way out, we stuffed three dogs in the back of my mom's Kia. Two lay down and took a nap, but Sniper is a very attentive dog. She looks out the front whenever she's in the car. She also decided to lick my ear. A lot. Thanks, dog.
When we got out there, this greeted us:
Yes, it is, in fact, a deer carcass. We usually find several dead things scattered throughout the woods in the early Spring. The dogs drag them back to our cars for us. It's like they're bringing us presents. Gross presents.
There's a little creek that runs through the woods, but it's usually dried up by mid-April. It was kinda cold, but I enjoyed it anyway.
Three minutes later, my feet were covered in mud and were very soggy. My shoes are waterproof, but only if they aren't submerged. Whatever. The dogs liked the creek, too. Penny and Sniper jumped over it. Trixie ran through it and splashed around. I don't know what her problem is, but she's weird.
She chews on trees. Clearly, she has a problem. Also, that was the mud I decided I could walk through without any problems. It was DEEP. Not good. Trixie was black from her belly down. Sniper was a bit more wary about the mud. Penny was off laying down in the grass, probably chewing on the deer carcass.
This trip out to the woods actually did serve a purpose. We were collecting sap for maple syrup. Yes, my family is the crazy one that makes their own syrup. Gallons of it.
We have four or five trees with this set-up. Pound a spout into a tree, rig a hook underneath the spout, hang a five-gallon bucket on the hook. This works best when you are wearing a 20-year old flannel shirt and look like my grandpa.
After we got all the buckets (and by "we" I mean "grandpa"), my mom and I walked through the trees with the dogs. They attempted to chase rabbits, I tried to get the mud off my shoes, and my mom tried to identify plants. It's really hard to identify plants when everything looks like a stick.
The dogs found something else to roll in, too.
Trixie rolled in it, but Sniper thought she was being dumb, so she pounced. We found the dead thing later, and I think it was a squirrel. The bottom half of a squirrel. Tasty.
Mom found some interesting-looking things, even if she did look a little lost while she was looking.
Nice sweater, mom. See how grey everything is? It makes the moss stand out, though. I can't wait for actual leaves on everything. We'll barely be able to walk out there in a month.
I don't know what this is, but it looked cool. If anyone knows what kind of tree this is, let me know. I'm curious.
This little patch of moss was peeking out from the snow and dead leaves. This is the only green out right now.
Dead trees are covered in weird mushrooms. There were five of these on one tree. This one is as big as my hand.
After our walk, which ended up being several hours long, the dogs got tired. And hot.
Penny lay down right in the snow. And started eating it. She didn't want to get up, and I don't blame her. It got warm out there.
Three snow piles later, and she was a happy dog.
So happy for Spring Break!
-Erika
All who wander are not lost, my dear.
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