Last Saturday Olive and I met my friends Kathryn and Mark and their dog Archie up in the Berkshires for a short but challenging hike up a steep trail in October Mountain State park in the town of Lee. Olive and Archie get along splendidly, and immediately curled up together in the back of Mark’s car for the ride from the grocery store parking lot where we met to the trail.

 

Not long after starting, it looked like Olive was listening to my directions. I have hiked many times before with Olive off-leash, so I removed her leash. For a while she stayed close, but later she seemed to pick up some kind of scent that she completely focused on. She either did not notice or ignored when I called her. At that we put her leash back on and kept it on for the remainder of the hike. The hike was only about two miles total, but a steep and slippery trail left us all exhausted by the end of the hike.

 

At the top of the hill was a pond and picnic table where we all ate lunch, including a treat for each of the two dogs that I usually give to Olive at lunch time.  Kathryn had picked up some large sugar cookies that were nothing short of awesome, which I ate with an apple. Bottled water and a cheese sandwich rounded out my lunch.

 

After driving back to the grocery store lot to pick up my car Olive plopped down on the floor of my car and slept soundly all the way home, about a 75-minute ride. Once back in my garage Olive seemed to be fully rested and wanted a game of “catch the saucer” in the field behind my house. There later seemed to be some effect from the hike, however, as after our last walk of the evening she went straight to her bed and slept soundly.

Kathryn took some great photos of hike. Here are a few that I really liked.

Olive and Archie pose together atop a large rock

At the picnic area at the top of the trail. Don't remember what the two dogs were focused on. Perhaps lunch on the picnic table?

Olive likes cooling off in the stream, as this photo shows.

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Some weeks ago, Nanne, Olive’s breeder, sent me some photos she had of Olive’s litter when she was a newborn puppy. It’s hard to pick out which one is Olive at that age, but I have some guesses.

I don't think the one muzzling Nanne is Olive; the stripe down her forehead is too wide. I am guessing Olive is the puppy third from the left in front.

Possibly Olive is the one at bottom left?

Again, bottom left?

Hard to say; I am guessing top left.

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The covid-19 virus does not seem to be going away. Sad that social distancing and masks are as important as ever. That means Halloween as I remember from my childhood will not be happening this year. I usually give out chocolate bars, while Olive has always behaved well with all the kids coming to the front door. People have come up with all sorts of schemes for giving out candy, such as a catapult that was written up in today’s Hartford Courant; call me lazy, but I am not so inclined to take heroic measures. I decided to just not give candy out this year and hope that next year will be much closer to a normal Halloween.

 

Not to mention that we got some heavy snow here most of the morning and part of the afternoon. It doesn’t seem to be sticking to the leaves and branches on the trees as it did a few years ago when we had a freak Halloween snowstorm with some heavy wet snow that brought down many trees and limbs.

 

For those who are looking for something the family can do together on Halloween night, there are of course many spooky films available on line or on DVD. Here is a cartoon I remember watching back when it was first broadcast back in 1964, the day before Halloween, on WPIX-TV out of New York City. It might appeal to kids up to the age of 12 or so.Hallow

 

 

 

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Election day is Tuesday, November 3 this year. The choices couldn’t be starker. I urge everyone to get out and vote if they have not already. I deposited my ballot into the secure box in my town nearly a month ago. Too late to mail your ballot in most jurisdictions, but everyone’s vote is important. GET OUT AND VOTE!

 

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A few bits of dog humor I collected since the last posting. Enjoy.

Without a Border Collie? How Indeed!

Border collie people already know this, of course.