Wish I had my camera, but no, I left it at the office so I "borrowed" this picture from another website. I was utterly stunned at how much landscapes can change in two weeks. Apparently, it rained a lot here in Moreau while I was off in Rochester. Everything is green. Bright green. You know how the cars get covered with a yellow film in the spring? Well, here it is so thick you could make a snowball...er, pollenball out of it. It's funny how sometimes what surprises me most are the similarities.
Had a little trouble finding the trail, because it is in the middle of this tourist trap. It's not in my guidebook; I just saw the sign and said to Ella, "Wanna go for a hike?" She always says yes. The park has a big sandy beach with life guard towers and tons of camping spots. Full service bathrooms, too, although everything is buttoned up due to the fact that it is still "off season." It was a little early for a Sunday when we got there, around 9, and no one was around. So, I broke my rule of never letting Ella off her leash. Signs everywhere, I had just read Katz book about how he threw a ball for one of his labs onto a frozen pond and almost lost both his life and the dog's, but I still make a stupid mistake. I hadn't planned to (Oh that's great. Like anyone ever says, "Hey, I think I will make a stupid mistake today.") but there was no one around and this great big squirrel was teasing her, and well, you know. She was also wearing her prong collar and 6-foot leash, which I hate having on her in the woods, but I had forgotten the flexi. Add to that the fact that she has been in prison, er, I mean, a boarding kennel for two weeks and you get a measure of my state of mind. (Which reminds me, I knew nothing of the tornadoes until I got an e-mail from my dad stating, 'Don't worry; we're fine." I showed my colleagues the e-mail and one said, 'Great. Guilt and relief all in one e-mail.')
So after all this lead up, it's rather anti-climatic because nothing bad happened. Ella just went cracker dog. She ran and ran and ran, around this tree with the squirrel, in huge loops, her ears flopping in the breeze. I clucked to her once and she ignored me. I knew better than to make matters worse by yelling at her (thank you, Jon Katz) so I just hunkered down on the trail and waited for the storm to subside. After a few minutes, I decided the storm wasn't going to subside so I began to backtrack slowly, nonchalantly. I heard her before I saw her; running as hard as she could straight at me. She would have hit me in the middle if I hadn't seen her in time and ducked down. She still knocked me on my ass, but I got lots of cushion so that was no big deal. It was literally the first time she actually showed me she'd missed me. She'd been ignoring me since I picked her up and quite frankly, I was worried. So maybe cracker dog (aka The Zoomies in agility and obedience circles) is what she needed.
We'd already gone about a mile so I decided it was time to head back. As we joined the main trail, I saw a man with bright green pants on heading down the main trail away from us. Phew, I thought, got her leashed just in time. Then we met a couple with dogs. One was an Australian Cattle Dog and the other was a PRT. The dogs, not the people. A PRT is Parson Russell terrier, the "new" name of JRT which I think was changed years ago but still hasn't caught on yet with the general public.
Just about the time we made it to the parking area, we met up with Mr. Green Jeans again. I said, "Hey, is this thing a loop?" (I know; here's your sign.) He said it was, and asked if this was my first visit. We got to talking and he told me quite a bit about the trails of Lake Moreau (sorry; I keep thinking of the Island of Dr. Moreau, the one from the 70s with Burt Lancaster, Michael York, and Richard Basehart as the Sayer of the Law) and told me there is actually a very nice waterfall and how to get there. Gotta try that one soon before "season" opens and the beach makes it an undesirable place to be.
Another great hike for the record book, and one we will go to over and over again. I guess it will become my new Petit Jean.
I'd love to ramble on about work but a) I probably shouldn't and b) We go to publish in less than two weeks and I really want to keep my job. Suffice it to say that things are going well. I had to give a talk on gender equity both weekends (we saw two different groups of teachers) and I began each with my Arkansas Computer Literacy Exam, always a big hit. (See last blog if you aren't familiar with it.)
Hope you folks in AR survived the storm; I've heard nothing to the contrary so I will assume the best. Dad did send me a picture of Toad Suck Daze (can't wait to pass THAT around the office tomorrow) so looks like things are ok in the central region. My best to everyone; until next week!
Had a little trouble finding the trail, because it is in the middle of this tourist trap. It's not in my guidebook; I just saw the sign and said to Ella, "Wanna go for a hike?" She always says yes. The park has a big sandy beach with life guard towers and tons of camping spots. Full service bathrooms, too, although everything is buttoned up due to the fact that it is still "off season." It was a little early for a Sunday when we got there, around 9, and no one was around. So, I broke my rule of never letting Ella off her leash. Signs everywhere, I had just read Katz book about how he threw a ball for one of his labs onto a frozen pond and almost lost both his life and the dog's, but I still make a stupid mistake. I hadn't planned to (Oh that's great. Like anyone ever says, "Hey, I think I will make a stupid mistake today.") but there was no one around and this great big squirrel was teasing her, and well, you know. She was also wearing her prong collar and 6-foot leash, which I hate having on her in the woods, but I had forgotten the flexi. Add to that the fact that she has been in prison, er, I mean, a boarding kennel for two weeks and you get a measure of my state of mind. (Which reminds me, I knew nothing of the tornadoes until I got an e-mail from my dad stating, 'Don't worry; we're fine." I showed my colleagues the e-mail and one said, 'Great. Guilt and relief all in one e-mail.')
So after all this lead up, it's rather anti-climatic because nothing bad happened. Ella just went cracker dog. She ran and ran and ran, around this tree with the squirrel, in huge loops, her ears flopping in the breeze. I clucked to her once and she ignored me. I knew better than to make matters worse by yelling at her (thank you, Jon Katz) so I just hunkered down on the trail and waited for the storm to subside. After a few minutes, I decided the storm wasn't going to subside so I began to backtrack slowly, nonchalantly. I heard her before I saw her; running as hard as she could straight at me. She would have hit me in the middle if I hadn't seen her in time and ducked down. She still knocked me on my ass, but I got lots of cushion so that was no big deal. It was literally the first time she actually showed me she'd missed me. She'd been ignoring me since I picked her up and quite frankly, I was worried. So maybe cracker dog (aka The Zoomies in agility and obedience circles) is what she needed.
We'd already gone about a mile so I decided it was time to head back. As we joined the main trail, I saw a man with bright green pants on heading down the main trail away from us. Phew, I thought, got her leashed just in time. Then we met a couple with dogs. One was an Australian Cattle Dog and the other was a PRT. The dogs, not the people. A PRT is Parson Russell terrier, the "new" name of JRT which I think was changed years ago but still hasn't caught on yet with the general public.
Just about the time we made it to the parking area, we met up with Mr. Green Jeans again. I said, "Hey, is this thing a loop?" (I know; here's your sign.) He said it was, and asked if this was my first visit. We got to talking and he told me quite a bit about the trails of Lake Moreau (sorry; I keep thinking of the Island of Dr. Moreau, the one from the 70s with Burt Lancaster, Michael York, and Richard Basehart as the Sayer of the Law) and told me there is actually a very nice waterfall and how to get there. Gotta try that one soon before "season" opens and the beach makes it an undesirable place to be.
Another great hike for the record book, and one we will go to over and over again. I guess it will become my new Petit Jean.
I'd love to ramble on about work but a) I probably shouldn't and b) We go to publish in less than two weeks and I really want to keep my job. Suffice it to say that things are going well. I had to give a talk on gender equity both weekends (we saw two different groups of teachers) and I began each with my Arkansas Computer Literacy Exam, always a big hit. (See last blog if you aren't familiar with it.)
Hope you folks in AR survived the storm; I've heard nothing to the contrary so I will assume the best. Dad did send me a picture of Toad Suck Daze (can't wait to pass THAT around the office tomorrow) so looks like things are ok in the central region. My best to everyone; until next week!
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