Notes
nice little frolic w/hop out RR south. quite windy thru russell drive and the road was a sheet of soft pine needles and the whole place just smelled of them which was fantastic. we became sheltered from the wind as we entered the trail but i knew a great place were it wouldn't be. going along a quad came from behind and we scooted to the side to let him pass and i told hop that loud pipes save lives and i gave the guy a big smile where i think he expected me to be mad. then i told her i'm really one of them and we continued on only to see a bow hunter up a ways. it caused us to stop short as clearly he was stalking something off in the bush. saw him remove the bow from his shoulder, grab a arrow and wait with a half cocked stance. my heart started pounding as we just stared in silence at the drama about to unfold. waiting. then...nothing. the maybe deer either caught scent and bolted or it was not what he thought it was cause he straightened and started walking. we stood there for minutes till he left our sight, then started running again. crossed hanson and saw the hunter getting into his truck empty-handed. happy he left cause i didn't want to ruin his hunt by being there.
finally...after carpenter's crossing, where it's like marsh, it was windy again and literally raining leaves and pine needles. hop didn't waste a moment and began catching them. i watched and it didn't look too hard so i gave it a go...miss...miss...miss...what the? i laughed and said, "clearly i suck." this goes on for a spell it seems. finally i just stop...put my hands out to the side and see the leaf coming from way up...drifting...swaying...dropping as i lift my hands up, it lands ever so softly in my hands. i look at it and immediately know, it is mine. i will bring it to GT and this way, hop, you will be with me. thank you for coming with me today.
by rights, hop won by catching way more leaves than my one but hop being hop...she dropped them all so i would win.