Just Me and the Boy

Chuck and I know the days of our autumn road trips are

winding down. Once the snow starts to fly

once the driveway is all slushed up

we'll probably stick closer to home.

But last weekend unrolled two glorious days of

mild weather that begged for a wander.

Let's hit the road, Deb. 

I can't resist those eyes.

Or the ears.

Or the nose.

Or the happy little dance he does in the kitchen when I say,

"Shall we go for a ride?"

That's some serious tail-shakin' right there.

(I think mine shook a little, too)

The goal this weekend was to find a place

A) away from traffic

B) resplendent with the joys of nature

C) with no people around

D) and only the most remote of possibilities that a buck or doe might jump

from the brush and suggest a long, exhaustive chase.

The afternoon mission was to see how my boy behaves when

unclipped from the leash and given a bit of freedom.

He lived on a farm for years and years,

free to roam about at will.

The woodland critters feared him.

The neighboring hogs paced in the lot when his

sweetest of furry selfs showed up to cruise the

fence perimeter to make sure all was well.

Six months after swapping the open range for a carpeted living room with a

fireplace and a fenced back yard, we'd yet to test his wanderlust in an

unconfined space.

We just had to see how it might go, in the perfect

and perfectly safe....place.

We found it.

Just a wee little pond.

A few turns this way, a few turns that.

Down a bit of a gravel road.

Surrounded by pine trees.

And he was a total champ.

Sniffin' the wind here, watering a tree there.

As is his instinctive way, he found a fenceline and dutifully

took a long stroll the full length of it, just checking to make sure

everything and everyone he cared about inside of it

~ that would be me ~

was safe.

Yep, that's my sweet boy.

And look what we found!

The most lovely pine cones.

I pulled up the hem of my t-shirt to basket them up

against me and hauled a whole pile of 'em back to the car.

What to do with them.....

I haven't a clue.

I'll figure something out.

Meanwhile, aren't they fine?

They make me think of winter when I look at them today.

Before too long, when the snow begins to fall

I'll look at them again and they'll remind me of a beautiful autumn day

when the sky was blue,

the wind whispered through tall pine trees

and I spent a perfectly lovely afternoon with

the sweetest of boys.