Of the three-day holiday long weekend that is Thanksgiving in Canada, Monday arrived as the most beguiling of October days. The two days previous were fine, the temperature mild, but heavily overcast and rainy at times. Not today. The heavens cleared and the sun took complete charge. And at a balmy 20C, the warmest of the days. So we knew well before setting out for our usual trek through the forest trails that the day would be irresistible for many people, taking an annual fall walk through the forest to enjoy nature's fall gift of colour and acrid fragrance drifting from the trees in the crisp fall air.

 

Still, we hardly imagined it would be as crammed with families hauling along young children and grandparents and pets as it turned out to be. We had decided before setting out that we would take the cautionary step of keeping Jackie and Jillie on leash, this afternoon for the duration of our hike. To try to avoid, if we could, any awkward interactions, the memory of yesterday's little drama still fresh in our minds.

 

Although the sun sat on its blazing throne and it was mild, the forest hasn't had an opportunity to dry itself out from the previous days' rain events and the trails were slick with mud. So much rain had presented in so short a time that the forest floor was overwhelmed, unable to absorb it all. The ascents and descents, particularly those on out-of-the-way, seldom-used tertiary trails presented a bit of a challenge. It's best to face those challenges minus a dog leash with an excited little dog at the end of the leash struggling to make its own way independently of your efforts to proceed with care.

 

Jackie and Jillie definitely are not the most obedient little creatures. They do not instantly respond to directions which they certainly understand but at times fail to feel inclined to recognize positively. We ended up trading leashes, with Irving taking Jackie and I taking Jillie under control. He may be small, but he is muscular and strong and heedless when the mood takes him.

 

With so many distractions the usual feeling of clear-headed serenity kept its distance today. The ambience was certainly beautiful, but a mite harder to take full appreciation of when attention is constantly drawn to two leashes constantly entwining themselves. True, on the tertiary trails there was less likelihood of coming across others jarring that priceless feeling of solitude in nature so the trade-off was questionable; these are trails  we usually bypass when we know conditions are less than ideal for negotiating the rougher terrain.

 

Not by any measure of comparison the most relaxed of our daily traipses in the forest. But home in good time to slip our turkey dinner into the oven and prepare the grated vegetables for a potato pudding. Earlier in the day I had minced green onions, mixing them with chopped fresh broccoli and dried cranberries and mayonnaise for a first-course salad. And baked a pumpkin pie for dessert. Tra-di-tion!