WILDLIFE & DOGS ON EARLY MORNING RUNS

I love the time change, but it takes an old lady some time to get the old body clock changed. The first fun thing is changing every clock in your world to the correct time. This is not as simple as it would seem since they all have to be moved back a hour. I once again have to get the instruction books out, or ask for help from someone more technically sophisticated than me (that is not hard to find). About the time you think you have all of them changed, you will find some random clock that you forgot you even had. The real trick is trying to get several clocks in the same room showing the same time. This can be more trouble than it is worth!

When running early this AM, we had a dog join us just after mile one. This is someone's pet and he has gotten out of the fence. Sonja had Bethany's dog with her so we spent the next couple of miles trying to run the stupid dog off. He was only interested in playing with "Miller" and spent the time running circles around all of us in an effort to get Miller to play. It is bad enough to be running down the road trying to not trip and fall over some random wire in the road, or pot hole hidden in the dark, but now we have to contend with this dog running between us at full speed and trying to not fall over when he hits us in the knees. I understand how the football players must feel when they see another player headed for their knees in a chop block. Sonja and Tracy finally turned around a couple of miles out so he would follow them, hopefully back to his home. This did enable us to finish our 6 miles and then walk another 4.

As we were finishing our 4 mile walk, we saw an albino squirrel. Quite a sight! When I told BC about seeing it, he said that he had seen the same squirrel, in the same yard, a few weeks back. I have always heard that squirrels were territorial, and I guess this proves it. The next time I see the lady that owns the yard, where we spotted him, I plan to ask her about him. I started wondering if he is ostracized by the normal grey squirrels, or if they treat him the same. I am really interested to see about this little squirrel and what his "squirrel life" is like. Is he treated like just another squirrel or as a "different squirrel". Are we the only species that treats those that don't "look like us", "smell like us", or "act like us" as aliens or is this a universal animal behavior?

The weather is unseasonably warm, but a cold front is on its way. I love the crunch of the leaves as I drive down the drive on the gold, yellow, red, and brown leaf carpeted asphalt. The wind is blowing at quite a clip, which means the leaves will not stick around for long, but how I enjoyed admiring them this morning while walking. What a blessing this Fall is!