Just Walkin’ in the Rain
There was no way to avoid it; it was raining and we had to do our evening hike. I wasn’t sure my jacket would keep out the rain and, besides, it was cold outside. I bundled up and off we went. As we approached the narrow trail to “Coyoteville”, Brandy was ahead and as soon as she was beyond the solid wood fence and could see the trail she suddenly ran down the trail to the end of the retractable leash. The fence was blocking my view so I couldn’t see what Brandy was chasing. Two or three seconds later, I was past the fence but by then whatever she was after (rabbit or coyote?) was gone.
We took the wider trail on the south side of the creek and explored the creeks in “Coyoteville”. Water was flowing over the trail in one place and the creeks were full. The ground wasn’t muddy due to the grass and debris from the trees although it was soft in places due to the myriad gopher holes. We explored a bit more and then returned to Summer Sage Road.
Brandy didn’t seem to notice that it was raining, as she was poking, sniffing and exploring as usual. We stayed on the pavement and didn’t go on Espola Trail as we usually did because of the mud. As it became dark I shortened the leash and we walked on the left side of the road facing traffic, jumping on the curb or into driveways as cars passed.