Hey, what gives? Ever since I can remember, that is since April 14th of this year, the weather has been fairly good, warm days, sunny skies, once in a while a day or so of rain. But now it appears as though the weather is changing. Pete and Alys and Ryder have been telling me about snow – they say frozen water, in flakes, comes from the sky and piles up.

The days have been getting shorter – this is really strange. There was a time when the sun shone most of the time. And the foliage, this is the strangest thing of all. The leaves are turning orange and yellow. It’s quite beautiful, but I’m told that soon, the leaves are going to fall off the trees and onto the ground. And, oh yeah, the crew here has been yammering about strong winds.

Tini takes Shadow for a ride

What I hear to come is not what I bargained for. I really did think that the sun was going to continue to shine, the days were going to remain long, and it was always going to be warm.

I suppose I could hang out inside the house, just curl up on my bed and take long naps. Ryder does this no matter what the weather. But I already know that Alys won’t hear of this. Today it was raining pretty hard; nevertheless, she put on her raingear, coat, pants, boots, and her orange hat, then put leads on Ryder and yours truly. We were then whisked off to the woods where we ran around in the wet underbrush.

We never see any other dogs or their owners out on the trails. Once in a while we hear an ATV two or three out on the trail, but not often. Today, I thought, no dog owner in their right mind would be out hiking today. Alys was the exception, but this is understandable, she’s not in her right mind. Word has it that she takes most of the animals on outings every single day, rain or shine, sleet or snow, wind or hail.

This, she contends, is good for us. And so she, and not us, determine this.

The other day she had me jump up on the mounting rock, and then picked me up and put me on Tinni’s back. She’d put his bareback pad on his back (this should have been a clue), so that my claws didn’t dig into his back. She lifted me onto his back, and then when it appeared as though I had my balance, she took Tinni and me for a walk.

It was scary being so high up in the air while on a moving animal. Alys, sensing that I was concerned, told me that there are many horses out there that are way taller and way more jumpy than Mr. T. Mr. T is 31 years old and goes along with the program, walks included, because as, he says, “resistance is futile.”

I heard on the weather radio that it’s supposed to keep raining for the next few days. What’s a young pup to do? I’ll be like Tinni and go along with the program – just so long as I get taken for hikes when the weather’s nice.

Next: 256. 9/16/20: Animal Farm