The entrance to the ravine off the street where our house stands has become a bit of a problem. For one thing, we come in walking conflict with the tracked vehicles being used to forge a new trail above where the old one has increasingly come under the influence of slumps where the shoulders of the creek banks increasingly fall into the creek itself, narrowing the already slender margin of the trails running alongside the creek.

And since the various types of vehicle are mostly tracked, they churn of the floor of the forest and the trails become chunky with moistened clay, making walking there somewhat dicey. Add to that the large pieces of rock and stones that fall off when one of the vehicles conveys them, that turn under out boots, making walking progress difficult in some areas, particularly on long descents.

As well, the mechanized beasts used to dismantle and rebuild the bridges, and their handlers must stop courteously to allow people taking their recreational opportunities as usual to pass, amongst the noise and the mayhem; not that they 'must', but they invariably do, and we're grateful to them for that kindness. But we prefer to bypass those incidents, rather than appear a nuisance to the workers, so we have decided to use trails we don't generally take advantage of, alternatives that re-introduce us to parts of the trail system that were once, long ago, familiar and other areas where new trails were forged, or that we hadn't formerly been aware of, though they're not many.

It has meant a little bit of experimentation, but we've been content enough to do that. And bored little Riley picks up interest and momentum any time we take a trail that's unfamiliar to him. He reacts similarly when we choose to take short cuts, bypassing areas of trail that take longer to pass through. Sensible little chap that he is, he prefers the shorter routes to the more prolonged ones we usually take in our daily circuit, that are so time-consuming. He savours a penchant to take shorter, no-nonsense treks, coming home sooner, enabling him to snuggle up in one of his little beds sooner, in undisturbed comfort. Until, that is, he becomes aware that it's mealtime and he is suddenly converted to a hungry little creature impatient to be fed.

So yesterday we re-acquainted ourselves with a part of the trail system we hadn't ventured toward for many years, in a studied move to access yet another part of the trail we also hadn't gone by for at least a decade or more. And from there took yet another, casual trail that had been forged by hikers over a period of time, alongside a much older one that approached the very same route. It was all different for Riley and as a result, though it was a longer route in the end, his interest had been piqued and he was fairly jaunty about it all.

It's interesting to note that though we appear now in unaccustomed areas, some of the ravine squirrels will still boldly approach us for peanuts, identifying us either by the fragrance our bag of peanuts throws off, or by our voices, even our appearance - who knows?