the forest

Every morning I try to start my day by walking in the forest with my bear of a dog, Basel.  Yesterday was one of those magical mornings.  There was a light snow falling, which as it caught the low sun, looked like glitter falling from the sky.   If I painted it like that no one would believe it was real!  There were fresh coyote tracks on the trail so I kept my eyes pealed.  Did you know that coyotes travel in straight lines?  Dogs wander all over sniffing  every leaf and stick, but coyotes are busy.  They have things to do.  As we rounded a corner we  caught sight of two beautiful coyotes not thirty feet away.   They just stared at us as I quickly grabbed Basel.  He thought he might like to play with these new friends.   As I was busy with Basel, they melted into the forest.  I remember they had huge puffy tails.   A little further on we startled three white-tailed deer.  Without the cover of leaves I could see them for quite a distance as they sailed over logs and fallen brush.  Basel also sailed off, but only in his dreams does he get anywhere near deer.   Being a 120 pound berner, running is not his specialty and he was soon back  with me.  It was such a beautiful morning that I learned how to use the camera on my cell phone.  Quite a feat for me without my glasses!

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