Cold and clear this morning; the barometer is rising and you'd think we're in for a typical wintry sequence of mornings like this one. But the forecast calls for rain on Wednesday, cloudy days through the end of the week, and more rain on Sunday...
Out with the dogs at 3:20 am, and my old friend Orion hangs just above the southwestern horizon. Another week or two and he'll disappear. The moon was high overhead and very bright, even though it's less than half lit. I could see colors in the yard, and the distant mountains were clearly visible.
The three field spaniels focused on one particular spot alongside our driveway, doing their usual intense olfactory absorption. Today I got down on the ground with them and smelled the same patch of ground. I could only smell the earth and the grass, nothing else. The dogs were fascinated by my joining them; didn't quite know what to make of it.
Race, the border collie, did something quite unusual for him. A neighbor's dog was barking, objecting to our presence. Race got his hackles up, and took off out the gate (unlike the field spaniels, he was off-leash). He ran up the patch of ground between my neighbor's fence and our fence, and headed over to the neighbor's fence to get in his dog's face. Much growling and posturing ensued. With some difficulty I managed to call Race back. Next time, he's going out on the leash.
As we walked back toward the house, I heard the low call of an owl nearby. With some effort (as the calls were very intermittent), I located it – high in one of our eucalyptus trees. I could just barely make out his silhouette against the bright sky; from the size and shape and call, it had to be a barn owl. Be afraid, little mice...
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