A Walk on the Wilder Side

Apache and I went walking this morning. For some reason Pepper had stayed at her own home down across the creek. Maybe she didn’t like the weather. There was definitely a change in the air. The sky was a surly grey and a cold and restless wind sighed in the treetops. It was a good day to walk in the deep woods west of the house. We followed a coyote’s trail for some distance, his small, neat “dog” tracks clearly imprinted on the skiff of fresh snow. I wonder if he was sniffing around the yard late last night. Something was around, causing Apache to tell it off in loud and rude dog words. Later we followed the path of several deer-in assorted sizes-as they toured through the woods. The last part of our walk took us across newly-frozen flood water on the creek, up a steep little hill, through a fence, and, at last, into the house where the wood fire awaited with a warm welcome. Sometimes the best part of going out is coming in again.