SOMETHING IN THE GRASS

I took these pictures of Nellie yesterday while we were on our walk. Usually she doesn't hold still for the process and the picture is a miss. But she discovered a bird's nest in this old fence post and was mesmerized by it.

Our overnight rest didn't go so well. Sometimes it doesn't you know, for whatever reason. I woke up at 4:10 with a vague memory of Mike having left the room, but I couldn't say if two minutes or two hours had passed. And then I realized I was hearing something – a rustling sound like when you unfold one of those flimsy plastic drop cloths. I came to the conclusion that something (remember last week's brown animal in the field?) was rustling around in the tall grass bordering the field to the north of the house. And it crossed my mind that Nellie was on the front porch instead of in her house as we retired for the night. And suddenly I was wide awake and worried. As I descended the stairs, I met Mike coming back to bed after an hour at the computer, and together we went outside. Nellie came out of the woodshed to greet us, and she, too, became aware of the something in the grass.

"Bark!" said Nellie. And she purposely crossed the yard and disappeared into the tall grass. But Mike and I began to think of porcupines and skunks (though we've never smelled a skunk here), and Mike called her back. Whatever it was, apparently Nellie's interference caused it to move on – at least temporarily.

Needless to say, we were up and around fairly early. We had intended to stay the morning at the farm but it commenced to rain, so we loaded up and headed back to the valley.