The long dark nights

Last weekend, Daylight Savings time ended and we moved our clocks back an hour to standard time.  While this adjustment of the clock doesn't give us less daylight hours, it does give us an earlier sunset, and signals for me that we aren't entering the long dark days which will bring us cold and snow.  It also makes life with high-energy dogs a little more challenging, which just means I need to get more creative to ensure everyone's needs are being met.  

Luckily, the weather has been mild enough this week that the dogs have spent a lot of time outside during my work days.  Tuesday was especially warm, with temperatures near 70 degrees.  While we had some occasional rain and wind, mostly it was just a cloudy day and the dogs made the most of it.  

While I worked my normal job in the morning, I spent the afternoon and evening working the polls, so I made a point of getting the dogs out for a walk at noon before I left to work the polls.  We had a nice walk and enjoyed the mild weather, although it was pretty humid.  Once we got home, they had lunch, a quick trip outside, and then all got settled in with a Kong before I headed to the precinct to vote and start my work day.  They got a second short walk around the neighborhood when I came home on my dinner break and before I fed them dinner, ate something quickly myself, and then headed back to finish my day at the polls.  

The election day went smoothly and people were patient and polite as they waited to vote.  When the polls closed, we wrapped up for the evening and I was home before 9:30pm  The dogs were happy to see me, and I was thankful that they settled down for the night pretty quickly after I got home.  

Wednesday arrived, and with it, the announcement that Donald Trump had won the election.  I can't say that I was surprised, although I don't think I would have been surprised if it went the other way either.  I just knew with the division in our country, it would be a fairly close race.  Sadly, our country remains very divided with people either ecstatic or devasted by the results.  While I don't like a lot of what I see going on in our country, I just can't give up hope that better days are ahead.  I still believe in people and in our country, and I really hope that one day we can be less divided and even feel our connection as countrymen and women again.  

After an exhausting Wednesday, I was looking forward to our Wednesday night dog walk with the shelter dogs, but I learned just before heading to the shelter that our Wednesday walk would need to be cancelled due to staffing issues at the shelter.  I was sad to have to cancel our walk, and especially sad for the dogs that they wouldn't be able to get out for a walk.  Since I didn't have to make the drive to Mason, I loaded the dogs into the car and took them for a run at the park in Dewitt at sunset.  It was just what we all needed.  

Thursday was another nice day and all three of the dogs spent a lot of time outside while I worked.  I discovered Smokey just lounging in the sun on several occasions.  When he wasn't lounging in the sun, he and the girls could be found playing with Cody, the neighbor dog, or barking at the mean little French Bulldogs that live behind us.  While he and Mina came in for short naps, Peaches spent nearly the entire day outside.  I did convince them all to come in for a little quiet time late in the afternoon, before finishing my work day and hurrying out the door for a little fun.

We hadn't been out for a walk at Fenner Nature Center since the Apple Butter Festival and hadn't really taken just a normal walk there in months, so I decided that it would be the perfect spot for our after work walk.  We made it there before sunset and took a walk through the short-grass prairie, which is Peaches favorite spot there.  I was surprised that we didn't see any deer while in the prairie, but as soon as we turned onto the Tamarack trail, I spotted a little spike buck behind us.  Not much further down the trail, several deer raced into the woods including a couple of really nice looking bucks.

Since darkness was quickly approaching, we avoided some of the natural paths we normally like to walk, and instead spent a lot of the rest of our walk on the newly paved path for the river walk that now goes right through Fenner.  I'm not really excited about this new path that caused a large section of the woods to be cleared and will bring bikers through the area now, but for Thursday night, it was the best way to get in a decent walk before dark.

As we were walking the Central Pond loop near the end of our walk, I noticed this bright yellow spot in the midst of all of the browns and it made me smile.  Before long, though, it was dark and we finished up our three mile walk and headed home for the night.  

Friday was a busy day for me at work, and once again, the dogs spent a lot of time out in the yard during the day.  I had lots to get done Friday morning and had planned to take the dogs for a mid-day walk for my lunch, but by the time I had finished most of my major tasks, it was after noon and I didn't have time to get out before a 1 pm meeting.  So I grabbed a quick bite to eat and fed the dogs lunch and continued to work, determined to get out after my meeting was over.  By the time my meeting ended and I finished up some other work, it was after 3pm.  So I wrapped up what I was working on and headed out for a much needed Mt. Dew.  As I left the Speedway around 3:30pm, I decided I was going to get the dogs out for some fun and that I could finish up my work later.  And with that, we headed to Albion for a little time on the North Country Trail.

The great thing about Albion is that it's the closest part of the trail to me and we can choose to hike through Victory Park and in town along the Albion River walk which makes it possible for us to get in some miles at dusk when we really need them.  We parked at Victory Park and headed out of town and into the sun.  It was a gorgeous afternoon to be out on the trail and we were making great time.  

I would have been happy if we had gotten just three miles, but since we were all walking along at such a good pace, we were able to get a 4.35 mile walk done and still have some daylight for the drive home.  While we didn't get home until after dark, and I still had some work to finish, I was so glad we had gone.  Only 17 more miles to go to reach our 100 for the year!  After a really slow start to the year, I am really proud of the progress we've made.  I am really hoping to finish our 100 miles before December.

By getting in our NCT miles on Friday, I am happy to say that I now have a Saturday that is completely free of any commitments.  While I'd love nothing more than to have a completely lazy day, I know that is nearly impossible with three GSPs in the house.  Smokey was already whining at me from across the living room and Peaches was looking at me, anxiously awaiting my next move, and I know that they won't relax without at least a little adventure.

So I've put the dogs outside for a little time in the yard and I'm going to get ready to take them out for a quick walk so hopefully by noon I can be home with no reason to leave the rest of the day.  Then the rest of my day will be spent doing some cleaning and other odds and ends.  I plan to relax while also making the most of the day.  I'm excited to try a new recipe I found that will use the parsnips and leek that I got from the Farmer's Market and to just spend some time quietly at home.

We have a big adventure planned for the day tomorrow, hence the Saturday blog this week.  I am pretty excited for a fun day on this little adventure that Vanessa and I have decided to take.  It was totally unplanned until a couple days ago. and I look forward to sharing all about it when I write next week.  Now I'm off to enjoy my Saturday.  I hope you all have a wonderful weekend.