Mali and Chi

Almost Christmas...December 22, 2014

Back in August, I was ready to update the blog every day - mainly with photos of the deer as we met them on the walks...a few of the construction work along the path and how brave Mali was when we had to navigate through a very small space next to huge, noisy construction trucks...but somehow, the time slipped by.

My son has got me using a phone app to keep track of our walks. I have wanted to make sure that we all - especially Mali girl - are getting plenty of exercise. We were doing between 2 1/2 to 3 miles daily and then the weather made things harder. We are back to close to 2 miles daily. Of course, on weekends and holidays, my son is doing 5 or more miles each day with them.

The Big Buck - November 5, 2014

Mali and Chi were outback. A pretty fall day. Then Chi alerted and started barking at something in the yard behind ours.

I've only seen Chi alert to deer twice, and both times were for (male) bucks. This one was much larger in person - he's in the upper (and uphill) right corner of the photo. This buck was watching over a female deer that was in the opposite side of the yard.

Last week (in December now), the FedEx driver was stepping out of his truck across the street to deliver a package to a neighbor, and you should have seen his face! As the driver started to cross the street, he finally saw the huge buck with full rack of antlers calmly meandering up the middle of the street just feet away. Kind of reminded me of that show "Northern Exposure" from years ago, where the elk would just wander through town. You could see the FedEx man thinking, "Aren't I in Chevy Chase, Maryland???? In the city!"

Veteran's Day - November 11, 2014

The afternoon was beautiful. so we went off on a long ride towards Harper's Ferry and the mountains!

And then along the river, near Harper's Ferry...

We watched a long freight train cross the bridge over the river...the late afternoon lighting on the fall leaves was beautiful.

The light was falling on Mali's side of the back seat, and smart girl that she is, she scooted under the hammock/seat cover ....

And Chi, being the kind dog that he is, moved from his normal spot to keep Mali company...

We were still on the road as the sun set in the mountains....

November 26, 2014 - First SNOW!

The first snow came on November 26....and then went.

Mali was a bit surprised by it And her "instant dry" velvety coat kept her from getting a chill.

Christmas Lights - The Mormon Temple Festival of Lights

December 14, 2014

It seems like just a short while back that I watched them taking down the lights on January 2nd. I really didn't think they would take them down each year because there are so many of them, but they have a special truck with a platform lift to reach up into the trees. I can't believe the year has already come to December.

After some really bad weather days, a good day on December 14 made me decide to check out the lights at the Mormon Temple. They now have over 600,000 lights - all sorts of beautiful colors, including magenta and shades of green you don't normally see. There still were quite a few people around, though not as many as there will be closer to Christmas, so we just watched from the car.