We didn't ask why the name Buddy, one of the most common of all dogs' names by their fond owners, but an answer to a question that was never uttered informed us that Buddy's name reflects that this is her husband's buddy. Who would like to, but cannot, take their dog out himself for walks, although he has, she said further, managed to lose 50 pounds. But he still experiences great difficulty getting around.

Before yesterday, though we first met the relatively short, rotund woman with the flaming red pageboy and Buddy a year or so ago during one of our ravine romps and have since come across her numerous times stopping for friendly but short chats, we had no idea that she was, in her working life, employed as a prison guard. As was her husband. When they hire guards, she told us, they prefer large, heavy people, the better to intimidate the inmates into a state of compliance, evidently.

For some strange reason, we ended up walking most of our trail hike through the ravine yesterday with this pleasant enough woman who speaks in a confident, clipped manner. From her we learned how irksome a job as a prison guard can be, albeit very well paid, she said. That eight-hour shifts are the usual but they can be stretched into double shifts of 16 hours and even, most unusually, but it does happen, a full 24 hours. Classified as governmental essential workers most labour laws regarding hours of work don't apply to them.

She had once done a double shift enabling a younger woman to have the time she needed to attend her own wedding shower, by taking her shift. She and her husband are both retired now though, and happy enough to leave the atmosphere of a federal prison. Buddy was adopted by them after retirement, a rescue dog. He's calm and confident himself and perhaps even knows how fortunate he is to have been taken by someone who respects her responsibility to give such a large dog ample opportunity to move freely about in a forest.

It was late by the time we got out for our usual daily ravine walk. Took me awhile to clean the house, the usual Monday schedule. And then some pre-preparations for dinner before we left. Guaranteeing that we'd be out and about as the sky gifted us with some glorious heavenly landscapes, stark trees silhouetted against a partially overcast sky, the horizon rimmed with bright orange-yellow, the sun beginning to set.

Jackie and Jillie didn't mind browsing about off trail, along with Buddy. We do ourselves prefer to enjoy our walks in each other's company, but occasionally it does happen that someone joins us, usually for a brief period of time as we chat while hiking, more rarely as on yesterday's occasion, during most of our hour-plus on the trails. If they're younger than us with more energy than we can muster and tend to move quicker than us, it makes sense that we tell them it's best they forge on ahead in respect of our slower gait.

On this occasion that quasi-pretense wouldn't work.