A Walk Down Our Road

The beauty of autumn is beginning to reveal itself around here. The mornings are crisp and cool and the afternoons are warm and sunny. We are having somewhat of a drought in the Battlefords. In the three months we have lived here it has rained a handful of times. Tomorrow promises around 1mm. Woohoo!

(We have a lot of turkey vultures around here)

 

The walk down our road (driveway)  to the bus is a chilly affair. The girl is wearing gloves and a lined jacket. When she gets off the bus her gloves are tucked away and her jacket is unzipped and trails behind her as she runs up the road.

I am trying to train the dogs to take her in the morning and go get her in the afternoon. I say "Let's go get Athena from the bus!" each time we head down. They wag their tails and head out with me. Jack was very ill for a week with parvovirus. He is miraculously back with us and making the trek once again.

The walk is about two blocks long. The road was dug up to a wide mess by power, energy, phone and water people but it will fill in one day. The view from the road is of wide open spaces, a little water and a lot of prairie. I marvel at the beauty of it every single day.

 (Max. Typical German Shepherd coloring)

 

(Jack, the one who was ill. Does he not look like a coyote?)

 

The dogs and I wait for the bus in the afternoon. They sit on either side of me and sometimes the neighbours dogs come for a visit. I tried to get a picture of them walking down but they don't get far enough ahead of me. They stop and wait until my legs catch up to theirs and then they are on their way again.

When they see the bus come over the hill their tails begin to wag and they let out a few barks. But when they see that girl get off the bus they run to greet her. She loves this time of day and so do they.

We all walk up the hill together, talking and laughing and throwing rocks for the dogs to chase. (They won't chase balls but love rocks. It is really odd.)

As the weeks march on, the aspens will turn brilliant yellow. I can't wait for that. Hopefully they will hang on the trees until Thanksgiving in October when the girls all come. The family pictures will be all the lovelier with the beautiful fall colors in the background.

I should add here that school is presenting its challenges. She still likes it and we are supporting her as best we can. I have talked to the teacher twice already. Once about a situation on the playground with a bully and once about Athena's hard time concentrating. (The reason we took her out of school back in kindergarten) We will re-evaluate next month but she will be staying until Christmas break for sure. All this is another post, I guess. I will keep you informed.