A Walk On The North Side

It was a Saturday afternoon and rain was coming soon, but the autumn leaves were calling me - and the dogs wanted to go outside for some fun. I left PeeWee inside sleeping, turned off the electric fence and took the five younger dogs out across the north hay field for a romp:

At first they huddled around my ankles - finally, they were remembering all the lessons about sticking close by me. But I didn't want them all THAT close! So I urged them to run and play, just not at too great a distance:

The trees on the north border of the field were red and gold, glowing almost as if on fire. The dogs began to run too far ahead and had to be called back. Sigh. It's one extreme or another with them. They want to please, but don't quite understand the concept. For them, it's all or nothing:

We seemed to strike a balance of sorts. Seamus and Madeline liked to be closer to me and the younger three liked to run. I was OK with that as long as they didn't get too far. Clover, Fergus and Daphne were closer than they appear in the photo:

I love this photo because it shows big ol' Seamus running joyfully while Fergus and Clover ran in opposite directions, almost as if they were going to collide (they didn't). Such happiness is why dogs make great companions:

We turned eastward along the fence line:

And walked toward the gate. I considered going down into the woods but never did:

The dogs, however, tried to go down into the woods. Seamus couldn't figure out how to get through the fence and I didn't open the gate, so we all struck out back toward the house:

But just as we began making our way homeward, two Amish men in a farm wagon began moving sloooooooowly down the road between us and the house. I didn't want the dogs to bark and carry on (I hadn't brought leashes), so we turned back along the fence line until the wagon had passed:

What a gorgeous day, what beautiful colors:

Once the wagon had gone by, I turned back toward the house:

Little Madeline, who had begun the walk by hanging back, suddenly wanted to run ahead. She kept stopping and looking back at me as if to ask why I was so darn slow. I think Madeline really prefers the comforts of home. And to home we went: