I zipped up my vest and Kona and I took off. Looking around, it felt like summer had come and gone, leaving the hills scorched. The morning's moisture was too late to bring life back to the landscape. Witch's Hair suffocated the last stretch of green mustard plants.
I saw animal tracks - first skunk and then raccoon. The trail seemed to be well used the past few days. Perhaps the city scavengers sought refuge from the mayhem of the 4th. Whatever the case, Kona checked out the scene.
We had the noisiest 4th of July that I can remember. Kona, who has never had issues with fireworks, ended up pacing the house, looking for a hiding place on Sunday. Thankfully, her crate worked as a safe haven, but she's seemed off-kilter and ailed by stomach troubles the past few days. I was grateful to have an empty trail to try to reboot this morning.
When we turned around to head home, I stopped to wipe water off my forehead. I took a deep breath to fill my lungs with cool air. It's July, but today was summer's intermission.
9 comments:
Could you send some of that summer intermission here? It's 100 freaking degrees!
It sounds like you two had a peaceful day on the trails after the holiday weekend. We'd be out on the trails, too, if not for the heat.
Its nice to see Kona and lots of the pups come out after the 4th of July mayhem. We have been having a hard time because not only the fireworks, but every evening seems to bring some storm with it! Stella, despite the thundershirt, gets upset and nervous, and becomes my velcro dog. She is not as bad as she was before the Thunder shirt, so its working to a degree!
Cheers,
Jo and Stella
Fireworks are tough. I'm glad Kona was able to find safety in her crate. When Misty hears them, she won't even eat. Poor things.
Looks like a great day on the trail! Love the last shot with the flowers.
I'm glad, too, that Kona was able to feel somewhat safe in her crate. Fireworks are the worst!
Summer's interruption...what a neat phrase, and it describes your day to a T!
I'm sure your run on the empty trail in the cooler weather was a nice reprieve for you two :)
That's strange how Kona was afraid of the fireworks this year, but it sounds like she worked things out and sought out her crate. We've never had a noise sensitive dog, but I definitely feel for people that do around this time of year!
"Summer Intermission" - I like that phrase! We're having the same today. Temps in the 40s and light rain. Sometimes I wonder how the animals, particularly the baby birds, survive these snaps.
Glad that you two had an empty trail!! That's always an advantage of not-so-beautiful weather.
Sorry to hear of Kona's fireworks angst. Even though our current dogs haven't yet shown any signs of thunder or gunshot sound phobias (we never hear fireworks at our house), our trainer has us do a game where they get treats for each thunder clap. She says that dogs often develop these phobias later in life, which is why she recommends the game even for non-sound-phobic dogs. You probably already do something like that since you seem so knowledgable about dog training but I thought that I'd toss out the idea just in case you hadn't heard of it.
wow, that sounds nice. Perhaps you could send some of that to Walnut where we are trialing this weekend??? It looks like marvelous weather for a hike and sounds like Kona was in need of it after that weekend. sorry there were so many fireworks, you all should come to the desert to my house next year, we had the quietest neighborhood, it was so quiet this year. Your post is a good reminder to keep watching out for things like fireworks sparking things even if it didnt in years past.
I really like the way you framed that last photo! Glad you got a short break from your heat. Kona is still panting, though. Today on my hike, I had to wear a jacket, and it started to hail!
Could you spare a little winter in July for us?
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