Day 314; Footnotes Could Today Have Been Any Better?

I had a question and a concern about my house. Two different people after having looked, have told me I worry too much when there is no need to worry. I love having smart, talented friends. One came out today moments before I was planning on leaving. They walked around the house, took one look and said everything was fine, it looked great stop worrying.

This evening the weather guy had posted that we might be able to see the NASA and SpaceX launch tonight. I told my son about it and he told me there was no way we would be able to see even with them giving it a decent possible window for viewing. Minutes before the launch my son stopped what he was doing, we brought both dogs inside and then walked down to my parent’s house. Just on the other side of their house is a larger open area to view the sky. It simply wasn’t to be. Even though the sky is clear, and the stars looked amazing, there was no rocket barreling toward space to be seen. So after a few moments, we strolled on back home.

It was the in-between that was wonderful.

About mid-afternoon I got ready and with Bella in the car we headed for Crowder’s Mountain State Park. I was slightly concerned that our later than usual arrival might mean it was busier, but it wasn’t. I parked where I normally park and got ready for the hike. Bella was more than ready and didn’t wait for me to open the back door as she tried to jump through my driver’s door. The fact that her leash was secured with the seat belt made that a little difficult. I got her free, grabbed my bag and hat and within minutes, we were crossing the parking area.

Just ahead of me was a young family with a dog. A dog that they were allowing to run free. Um..this may not be good. From a distance I told them that their dog had to be leashed. In return I got an okay thanks but they didn’t seem to be doing anything. When I caught up with them I saw they did now have a leash on the dog. It may have been one of those retractable leashes and I simply didn’t see it and after my comment they took hold or maybe as I was watching Bella’s reaction to the dog I missed them attaching the leash. Either way, as I passed I told them I wasn’t meaning to sound hateful, it was simply that Bella had been attacked up there before and dogs not leashed bother me. They understood and allowed Bella and I to go ahead of them.

I do have to say one thing here. To the young dad who stopped his young daughter and made her wait while we passed. Them on one side of the trail, Bella and I on the other. They stood quietly and waited. Once we were past, he told her, “Now we can go.” I know Bella’s personality and how she acts around others, especially children but he didn’t. He did the smart thing and waited. He protected his child and made sure she was safe. Good on ya dad. You are amazing.

Off we went up the trails and toward the top. The weather was perfect. The sky clear. There wasn’t too many people and oh the leaves. I really need a UV filter for my camera lens as the bright sunlight tended to wash out a lot of the color. The sunglasses I was wearing was allowing me to see so many of the other colors that filled the woods along the trails and down through the woods. Colors my camera just couldn’t quite capture but the images were still acceptable none the less.

At the top, right near where I would have gone, sat a man and his dog. As soon as he saw me he asked if my dog was friendly with other dogs. Usually she is, but just to play it safe, I kept her away and we didn’t go close to the edge. Turns out his dog is a service dog that had also been attacked which made them both cautious. I talked with him for a few minutes about our dogs, I took a few photos from the closest vantage point I could get. I gave Bella plenty of water and waited for her to finish. Once she was done, we headed toward the trail down. Stopping in a couple of places for photos before we made it to the head of the trail and started down.

Bella has the patience of a saint.

We would go so far and I’d stop for photos. Go forward a ways and stop for photos. We did this all the way down. She’s stop and wait, but after a while I was beginning to get those “again????” looks back over her shoulder.

At one point I was hearing something up on the side of the mountain. I knew it wasn’t squirrel as it was making way too mush noise. I just couldn’t see what it was. We moved forward slowly as I struggled to see what was creating so much sound. Finally I saw something moving. They were too far away for me to see clearly and I didn’t have the long lens for the camera. My guess though, is turkeys. We’ll go with that anyway.

The people that I did meet and pass today, all spoke. All were friendly, happy for such an amazing day and making the most of the gift given. It had to be good, I was up there wearing shorts and a tank top. An outfit I have become very comfortable wearing, which is amazing considering I haven’t worn such an outfit in years until this one.

Now, as the hours pass and the day winds down, I can’t help but be so very thankful for such an amazing, incredible, healing gift of a day. Even if to answer the question, if we had seen the rocket then maybe, otherwise, nope, today was good.