I headed up to visit my mutt this past weekend. Puck has been at Wildwind Kennels for pre-season conditioning and bird work since August. This was my first visit since drop-off day. She went nuts when she saw me — clawing at her kennel, running around in circles when I let her out, barking the whole time. It was nice to see. It reminded me how much I missed her.
We headed out into the area to chase some birds. In about a half hour we found a couple woodcock and a grouse — not bad. Puck handled like the old pro that she is. Along with the birds, we also came across lots of abandoned apple trees. I’m intrigued by old apples and I ended spending a bunch of time noted the different varieties we found. I came across at least a half a dozen and tasted every one.
The goldenrod and asters were also in bloom. The odd thing was that they weren’t covered with honey bees. I’ve heard that honey bees are having a hard time in Maine. Standing in a field of wild flowers and not hearing a single buzz really hammered this home.
A tire blew out on my truck on the way back to the kennel. We had been running around on dirt roads all afternoon and we were about a mile back in the woods when it happened. A sharp rock must have taken my tire out. Fortunately, I was able to make it back to a paved road and arrange for a tow. The tire that blew was my spare. It had replaced a tire that blew out the last time I was in the woods.
