Good morning everyone!  Well, here we are.  Continuing our fall hiking series.  Then why the winter pic above you ask?  Because it is.  Winter.

You see, we really didn’t get fall here this year.  It was summer.  Now it’s winter.  In between there was a month of very cool, I mean waaaay below normal, temps.  And rain.  Lots of rain.  And it was very cool. And rainy.  Then it changed.  To cold.  And snowy.  On October 10 it snowed.  We got 9 1/4 inches of snow.  Sigh.  And today the temp jumped all the way up to 32F.  Almost started to melt in places.  But when I went outside to feed the birds at noon I felt something on my foot.  Looked down to see Sylvester.  One of my chipmunk friends.  Hard to believe.  So I stayed outside and gave him peanuts for awhile.  Later Checker, another chipmunk, also showed up.  Very odd to see chipmunks with snow on the ground.  But these two had a late start gathering peanuts from me so I guess they figured they just didn’t have enough food to last through an extra long winter.  So I made sure they got lots today.  Was nice to see them even if it was cold.  That deer above is Mama D.  She remembered me.  She was busy getting as many green leaves as possible before they fell off the bushes.  This early snow means the colors won’t be so nice this year.  The leaves are just dropping off the trees.  Sigh.  Sorry, but winter is just not my favorite season.  You might disagree.  That’s fine.  Even the blue jays didn’t seem to be overjoyed.  This snow might melt.  But that won’t last long before more snow arrives.  Sigh.  However, back to nicer fall days.  Dad and I had made it to a nice sunny hill where we decided to have our lunch.  And COFFEE!  COFFEE outdoors really tastes so much better.  If that’s possible.  And it is.  Really.  Dad chose to sit on an old tree stump.  Are you sure that’s wise?, I asked.  Certainly, said Dad as he kicked it, nice and solid.  And he sat down.  Amazing how fast he stood up again.  Then he yelled and started waving his arms.  Then he ran.  For a big man he could run fast when he wanted.  And here I thought he was tired from our little hike.  He disappeared from view down the other side of the hill.  He came back after awhile.  Working up an appetite?, I asked.  HAHA, said Dad.  He chose a rock to sit on this time.  Apparently when he kicked that tree stump it disturbed some wasps who were living there.  I tried very hard not to laugh.  I can see that smile, said Dad, just toss me my sandwiches.  Gently, he added.  So I did.  What’s this?, asked Dad.  Your sandwiches, said I.  When you hit that tree you also flattened your sandwiches.  What about the other one?, inquired Dad.  That is both of them, I said.  Dad just looked at them.  Look at the bright side, I said, it won’t take you as long to eat them. At that point I couldn’t hold back any longer.  I laughed.  Loud and long.  Dad roared with a kind of loud fake laugh.  I couldn’t believe what happened next.  He got up, took my second sandwich and rolled it into a ball!  Can you believe it?  Then he gave that roaring fake laugh again.  HAHA, said I.  Then I threw it at him.  But missed.  Instead it landed in his cup of COFFEE!  I laughed loud and long again.  Dad dumped his COFFEE.  I could tell what he was thinking.  But surprisingly he didn’t do anything.  Odd.  It was beautiful looking out over the area from that hill.  The colors were brilliant.  It had warmed up considerably from our frosty start this morning.  There was a lot of sparrows scuffling through the grass.  An eagle was soaring high above us.  A flock of Canada geese was heading south against that beautiful blue sky.  There was some chickadees calling back and forth in the pines behind us.  I was sharing part of my sandwich with a little chipmunk that had come over to us.  He seemed quite happy as he scampered away with each piece.  And there was that pileated woodpecker again, pounding away on yet another tree.  I suppose it could have been a different bird, but not likely.  They do have quite large territories.  Should just be a little ways down the tracks to that old town, I said.  I sure hope it’s not far, said Dad.  Some clouds are moving in again.  Supposed to be more snow tonight.  Sigh.  And possibly rain tomorrow.  Hopefully it will be warmer, or it will get icy.  Muffin is sleeping.  She doesn’t like winter either.  Not much activity outside at night in winter.  And she likes watching out the window at night.  She just sighed.  Amazing.  Hope you all enjoy your weekend and God bless!

Steve and Muffin.