Sun and shade pictures - the umbrella can be adjusted to shade other sections - the picture with Gracie on her cage - shows the deck outside in full sunshine - so you can see how much we needed the umbrella!

A note about weather from a snowbird - I was just thinking that we now are having summer-like weather, and it's not even Memorial Day yet (soon, though). So. . .I guess as I write my stream of consciousness - it's time for warm weather to happen up here. . . but coming from Florida - I get mixed up as to what month it is...are we going into Fall, or are we going into Summer? Will it be time to put up the Christmas Decorations outside - how many months til Christmas? 4? 6? Are we finished with summer, or is it just starting. In my old brain, sometimes I have to. . . . think a minute, since snow is not common for us (except at Christmas). And not working puts a drain on the brain. No vacations to think about, nor weekends to look forward to - every day is the same. ( all good, mind you. . . a reward for being alive)

Gracie and I went on a walk Monday. It was an interesting one. Worth a comment or two. I had to look back to see if I had written about it. Don't see anything.

First, I will give you a little background. Schuyler/Chemung Counties, which touch, decided that it would be a good idea to have a "rail to trail" walking path. A rail to trail area is just what the words describe. Where there was a railroad track, they've taken that out, and made a paved walking trail for people to enjoy - either biking or walking. No cars allowed. The idea is to let people, who have the gumption, and want to, walk or bike from Watkins Glen to Horseheads. Or spots in between.

There are sections that begin at certain spots, and you can get "off" at certain areas. So you don't have to walk the whole thing. Just my speed. The walking trail is called The Catharine (pronounced Cath-a-reen) Trail is named after an Indian Princess who lived in the area, early-on. Queen Catharine.
At the bottom of our hill, across Route 14, is one of the starting-stopping points, at the Post Office parking lot. There's even a sign that designates
car parking for walkers. We're close to Horseheads, by a couple of miles, but the trail isn't finished to there yet. There are men working on it all the time. Monday was a beautiful day, so Gracie and I took the car, parked it, and started to go for a walk north going towards Watkins Glen.

Gracie's getting so much better on her leash, and with the mandatorily required poop bag, off we went. This part of the trail includes a quarter mile walk to a bridge over route 14, and a beautiful wooded area on the other side. Gracie's leash is one of those expandable leashes, so the dog can feel like it is more in control of "her destiny" so to speak. She had a wonderful time just sniffing along at first. Stretching the leash out to its end, coming back, and stretching again. She was very interested in a stream - off to the side of the trail.

Then - she noticed the traffic. That made her nervous. She refused to move, even with coaxing and promise of treats. So I picked her up, and went a little further. She was okay. Then we came to the bridge. She went about half way up the ramp and balked. I picked her up, and carried her up to the top. As we were going across the bridge, she balked again. I picked her up. Then we got to the other side. She walked a bit, but then she turned around and completely refused to go any farther.

Obviously - We got back to the car much quicker than going. (She didn't need to be picked up at all.)

So - what did we learn? We learned that this area of the trail has just too much traffic sights and noise, and bridges aren't the best place for little puppies to walk on - there's another place further on that would be more suitable to our walk and on a cooler day, we'll tackle it. No bridges, no traffic. And we learned: This section was more suitable for a Kindle walk.