After years coming across us in the ravine Coco and Ruby, two rescue dogs, have finally agreed to a truce. They now withhold their visceral reaction as once-abused dogs, to bark furiously when they see us, willing to share the ravine with us, and setting aside suspicion. They live with a young couple who bought a house on a street backing on the ravine, about a fifteen minute walk from our street.

Yesterday was an absolutely glorious fall day. A day in early November presaging an entire week of above-normal temperatures in the mid-teens: Indian Summer! The sun was fully ablaze in a sea of blue, and the wind, albeit emphatic, nicely moved the warm air around, nudging holdouts on deciduous trees to float to the forest floor. Speaking of holdouts, the beeches in the ravine clutch their autumnal dried-and-wonderfully-hued foliage closely, and they will continue to do so for the most part through the winter months, blessing the coming monochromatic scenery of winter-white with startling punctuations of orange.

When we emerged from our circuit, there was Mike, walking Coco and Ruby down our street, the first time we've ever come across them outside of the ravine. Street-walking isn't their favourite activity. Ruby loves the ravine, paddling her overweight little frame down into the creek, and waddling about in there for as long as Mike patiently allows her to before they move on. When the area receives violent thunderstorms, Coco is put out of commission for weeks, shuddering in fear over the violence of the thunderclaps, until their memory has been shoved sufficiently deep in her damaged psyche to allow her to venture out of doors once again.

So, since they were in our direct neighbourhood, they came along to visit with us for a few minutes, on Jack and Jill's turf. When we're in the ravine, Jillie will quietly settle herself down for as long as it takes when we come across friends and stop for brief chats. Jackie is fine at first, then he becomes restless, and he looks for mischief. His favourite trick is to begin pulling Jillie's leash and tugging her along the trail, as though signalling us that it's time to go, you laggards.

Yesterday, with visiting Coco and Ruby, Jackie took to doing the very same thing; pulling them both along by their leashes whenever Mike dropped them to allow them to wander about wherever fancy took them as long as they remained on our property. Neither Coco nor Ruby seemed to mind Jackie's assertiveness, and it was pretty amusing to witness the little spectacle of Jackie busying himself and Coco and Ruby lending themselves without complaint to his conceit.