Living outside town

Today I had a three hour long walk with the dogs, starting from where we live and following paths into the forest. We followed first on of the main paths, but as we got on to the smaller paths, I could let the dogs free. They absolutely love it - it is so much to sniff and check out: There are mice or other things making caves in the fields, there are squirrels in the trees, and there might be other - bigger - animals that have left their marks during the night. And around us there is a heavy forest, now and then getting thick and dense, now and then letting a glimpse of a lake through, and now and then opening up into a wider field or showing a small cabin or old farm. We are not the only ones to walk there, there are some other people and one or two bikers, but in general we can go for quite long without seeing anyone else.  The paths are mostly yellow by fallen leaves, but here and there the leaves on the ground also have started to loose their color, they become brown and slippery and start to go back to the earth.

Sometimes the forest is a little scary, especially when we walk in places where we haven't been much before. Stella can be really boneheaded sometimes, and sometimes when she goes hunting, she forgets time and place. Today she disappeared in the forest. I was not paying attention to her for a minute or so, and suddenly she was gone. The forest stretches quite far out in all directions right there, so I didn't dare to go searching for her. Instead I remained in the same place and started calling for her. It took 10 minutes or so before she appeared, running at full speed, panting like crazy and shaking terribly. Poor dog, she must have been terrified. She is a tough dog, but she gets scared sometimes when she thinks she has lost her pack. she lied down on her side right in front of me - no point in yelling or being strickt, so I spent ten minutes talking softly to her and cuddling her until she calmed down again. The rest of the walk went without problems, and we came to a really, really beautiful lake with some almost hidden paths and the remains of destroyed bridges.

It is a fantastic privilege to live like this - close enough to the city to walk to town, and far enough away to feel that it is another world, to see the reflection of eyes in the night when you walk with the dogs and the flashlight in the morning :)