Birch Island, St. Albans, ME. - 7:50am

It's not often I'm up before the sun, but today Beyla seemed to know what I had in mind. She was already stirring at 6am, which is actually her normal wake up time during the week. So, maybe she's not so attuned to my thinking after all. :)

Kari woke me up, and I headed out to get functioning and Steve was up already and looking out at the fog on the lake. Though he was back in bed before I even had the coffee brewing. All the others are still sound asleep while I get my thoughts down the old fashioned way. But it's a good excuse to use my pen Kari got me for my birthday last year. Besides, it's good to be "unplugged" sometimes. Though that's an ironic thought for something destined to be posted on the Internet, isn't it?

Off we went at 6:15am with a cup of whatever coffee was handy in hand. (I hear stirring in the house, somebody must be awake - 7:54am). I didn't think grinding beans while Peg and Liv are sleeping less than 15 feet away was a very good idea.

I didn't realize we'd beaten the sun until we were out doing what we affectionately have dubbed "the circle island tour", but there it was just barely peaking over the trees. After some hemming and hawing I decided to engage in a minor bit of trespassing in somebody's yard (they're not here anyway) to get a quick photo. I wouldn't normally encourage such behavior, but it was too cool to miss. Besides, we're all neighbors here, right? Never pass up a good photo opportunity! You may never see it again!

What really amazed me this morning is how quickly the sun actually moves. I never notice it during the day, but in less than 10 minutes the sun had entirely cleared the treetops. Not a half hour later, as we're coming back across the causeway, the sun stands fully above the trees on the island. It's been a great morning for pictures. I'm glad I brought the camera, I've clicked off ~80 shots! :)

(looks like Beyla has somebody to play with. She just went charging by after her flying squirrel. :) Peg's up and out)

Getting up at 6:00 on a Sunday was rough, but it was well worth it. It's been nice walking around the island and over the causeway having the world to ourselves as we often do in the morning. On the causeway we were greeted by a heron in flight to his favorite (presumably) morning fishing spot. Actually so is some unseen fisherman judging by the drone of an outboard motor somewhere in the foggy distance. Looks like a great morning to be on the water, it's as smooth as glass out there. Additionally in our travels we've seen 5 mallards, several sparrows and other small birds with which Beyla was most intrigued, and a few crows. The chickadees and blue jays are busily conversing in the trees.

It was a nice walk, nearly an hour long as we made our way around. I can't wait to come back. You know, Beyla might just make a morning person out of me yet. Or at least inspire me to get up early and head out to the woods. One step at a time maybe. :D

(Well, sounds like the rest of the crew is up and moving. Looks like we'll be off to breakfast soon. Back home tonight, but we'll be back in November for another tour of Birch Island.)

Beyla seems rather unmoved by all this of course. As usual she's to absorbed in her own affairs. But then who knows what goes on in the minds of dogs, perhaps she is as happy to be here as I am and just expresses it differently. Alas we'll never know, will we? I suspect we'd know a lot more about life and the worked around us if we understood our dogs.

The sun looks very different streaming through the hazy sky the past two mornings. As it's just beginning to rise above the trees the sun is orange. More interestingly, the light it sends through the trees is nearly red. It's a strange but beautiful effect. New England weather is always full of surprises.

Last night brought some much needed rain but it thankfully had stopped by the time Beyla and I headed out for our walk. Though that doesn't mean the trees are done raining. Both our heads got a little wet today, but it's ok. I've always loved the way the forest smells after it rains and it a welcome addition to our morning.

Tonight we're off to Maine. Hopefully I'll have something worth writing about from the island. :)

After a trip to Martha's Vineyard this weekend we're back in business.

Beyla's not feeling 100% today, but that didn't stop her from attending to our morning rounds. Today she opted to go left into Skinner Forest instead of the usual walk to the pond. But that's fine, a change of scene is good for you. Variety is the spice of life and all that.

The population of morning birds is changing. The summer birds are starting to thin out. The squirrels, red squirrels, and chipmunks are all very busy scurrying about making their preparations for the cold weather ahead. One red squirrel in particular was most perturbed by our presence this morning and scolded us in the most severe squirrely terms from his perch partway up a nearby tree.

The trees are starting to show their colors now. Not just the occassional confused tree you normally see in early September. There's a lot of red, orange and yellow beginning to show. The fall show is nearly upon us. I'm hoping for a good show this weekend in Maine. Usually Kari takes Beyla for her morning walks on the weekends, but I may have to make an exception this weekend. It may be worth rolling out of bed early on a weekend just to experience Indian Lake in the morning with my favorite morning companions. Perhaps my favorite all-the-time companion will join us as well. Oh Kari? :)

We'll see. I may end up writing a special evening edition instead.

Ahoy! It be a cold and foggy mornin' in the port o' Groton today. But noneth'less we set sail as usual clad in our finest cool weather garb. Though I couldn't help be noticin' me first mate went about business with particular efficiency this mornin'.

Methinks even me salty dog be knowin' th' weather be changin'.

Mornings With Beyla... with special guests, Lexi and Bear.

Yes, I'm dogsitting once again so this mornings walk was with Lexi and Bear instead of Beyla who was on her walk earlier than usual with Kari. I'm sure it's an adjustment for them both. :)

The geese are on the move. This morning we were greeted by the trumpet of Canada geese flying overhead. First by a small group of 5 heading East, then a larger flock of 18 heading West, honking away as they flew over. It looks like they're still rounding up the troops for the big migration, as they were not headed South nor were they in the flying V formation. More of a flying cluster of geese really. Fall is nearly upon us now and they'll be heading out for the winter. And I will be donning the fleece if the mornings continue like this one. Brrr!

I've got one more morning with these guys before returning home to my girls and the usual morning routine. I love dogsitting, but it'll be good to get home and back into the woods. This neighborhood is very nice. It's on a closed loop and is fairly wooded, but it's not the same.

Brrr... it's starting to get chilly in the morning. Most people would have bundled up for the morning walk, but not I. Still wearing a t-shirt. It's not that cold yet, just distinctly cool. Besides, the walk and the coffee warm me up soon enough.

Even so, I'll have to bust out the fleece soon. Beyla, of course, is still completely unfazed and focuses only on the morning canine news. Well, that and the occassional squirrel.

Dreay day. The day has had an interesting start. Our mornings begin with Beyla sitting at the bottom of the stairs while I put on her halter and leash and off we go with coffee in hand. This morning, I'm not sure what got into her but I grabbed her halter and she ran away! I headed up into the livingroom after her and ask "What was that all about??" and she's crouched on her front legs and gives me a playful "Ruff!". Then she dodges back and forth a couple of times before running past me and downstairs again assuming the "come and get me" pose. At this point I'm laughing and she's too damn cute for me to get mad so we ended up playing chase around the house for 5 minutes before finally settling down and getting down to business.

At the end of the driveway I decided it's time to crack open the coffee and as I do so, it explodes all over my face and shirt. Great, my first sip of coffee is everywhere but in my mouth! I can see this will be an fun day. So off we go on a grey, misty morning for our walk.

Oh well, they can't all be radiantly sunny, serene mornings, can they? And that's OK really. I mean, one the one hand we needed the rain. And on the other, if every day was a good day they'd all be mediocre, wouldn't they? Without the occassional bad day as a reference point and reality check, the good days would be indistinguishable. So, even if only for the sake of perspective, the occassional "blah" day has merit. A lot of things in life are like that. The bad gives the good perspective. There's always a bright side in life, even if it's only a shade or 2 brighter and you have to squint and not look directly at it. It's there. :)

Besides, the day started off with a laugh. And exploding caffeinated beverages notwithstanding, I still got plenty of coffee into me. As one of my favorite musicians, Greg Brown, says in Good Morning Coffee, "Let your olfactory passages get a whiff of this stuff. Life's gonna be alright somehow."

The cicadas were out this morning. I know they're around but I so rarely hear them that it's always a surprise when I do. Though it always seems they're only out making noise on the hottest, most humid days. Lucky us, we just happened to be having one of those today. Nonetheless we were off for our usual jaunt around the pond. We opted to go around the "front" side of the pond today. We hadn't been there yet and it's good to try new routes, mix it up a little.

This mornings start was a bit rough though. Woke up to Beyla whimpering and looked at the clock that read 2:15! I jumped out of bed to let her out immediately only to find all the clocks in the rest of the house blinking, blank or otherwise indicative of a power loss about 2 hours and 15 minutes ago. :/ Turned out it was only 9:30. LOL!

Fall is coming. There's no question about it this morning. We stepped out to make the morning rounds into the first really coool morning air this summer. Upper 40's with that faint, yet unmistakable scent of Fall in the air. I suppose any normal person would've stepped back inside and donned a jacket, but I've never been particularly normal especially as pertains to the weather. It was a nice morning to me.

When we got to the pond the mist crawling across the water only confirmed my suspicions. I wonder if Beyla was thinking the same. She's probably too absorbed in the canine world of scent to really care much. It's hardly cold enough yet to penetrate that fur of hers.

It's hard to beleive on a morning such as this that it'll be in the 90's this weekend. But now is the time when the seasons will struggle against each other. The new season seeking dominance over the old, while the old tries to hold it slipping grasp. The new season always wins in the end, only to be defeated by the next one in a few months. But that's the way of things. The changing of seasons is one of the things that makes living in New England great.