sabre

A cold rain swept in during the early morning hours....the wind came up and I could hear the rain tapping on the north windows, as the wind brought not only rain with it, but colder air too.....I remember turning over and pulling the sheet and blanket tighter up under my chin as I snuggled my head back down in the pillow....grateful that I had a warm bed, a solid roof over my head and a few more hours to sleep before getting up.

We had our first frost on Wednesday morning. I live high atop a hill, but down in the bottoms the white frost spread itself across the grass and crops like white sugar frosting on a green cake. It was only a light frost, not a killing frost.....but it gives a clear signal that the earth has tipped and a change is taking place. The cycle continues and not too long from now it will be time to start thinking about combating snow.

I took a few minutes yesterday afternoon, to spend with my brother's dog, King. He likes to come to my place and lay out under the trees, or if I'm woking outside he'll follow me around....finding a good spot to lay and watch everything I'm doing and then moving to a new spot when I make a move. He is a large dog....some kind of a northern breed with long, thick, dense hair made for the cold of the Artic. He was dropped off on the road by someone 4 years ago as a young pup and has made his home/homes with my brother and I ever since. We shear him in the spring and keep him that way through the summer because he would be way to hot if we didn't. Taking his winter coat off of him in the spring is almost like shearing a sheep.....he likes to have it done though and just lays there with his tongue hanging out as the electric clippers buzz along and do their job. In the winter time, he's happy to stay outside when the rest of us have all retreated to the warmth of the indoors. On some of the coldest days of the year, when the wind is blowing, the snow is flying and the mercury is at zero or below, he'll spend the whole day outside, even napping on a snow bank as the artic weather howls around him.

So yesterday afternoon, King was laying in the shade of the Crimson King maple tree when I found him. He heard the crunch of the leaves under my feet as I approached him and he opened one eye to see who it was that was interupting his mid-afternoon nap. When he saw it was me, he didn't move a muscle, except for his large tail which began to thump the ground as I got closer. You see, King and I are buddies.....he knows that I'm a soft touch for dogs....him in particular. He is a great dog, who doesn't have a mean bone in his body and would rather lick you to death than bark at you. When I got down on my knees beside him, he automatically rolled over on his back, legs in the air and head stretched out until his nose was almost touching the ground, just waiting for his usual belly rub. I've never seen a dog who loves a good belly rub more than King. After a few minutes of me giving him a good rub and a scratch, he sneezed, got up and gave me a few thank you licks on my cheek and then plopped his 100lbs down across my lap and proceeded to go back to sleep as I stroked his head and back. It took me a little wiggling to get my legs out from under him, but he never moved and as I got up and walked away, he was snoozing away in the cool afternoon shade of the maple tree.

It's October 1st today....a new month....lets all enjoy every day of it that we can!