We had our first hint of winter Thursday and Friday. It was near freezing both nights, although up here on the mountain it was a good bit warmer than the official temperature for Rome. But we still had to make sure Lucy was prepared for her early morning walk. She’s a little dog with short fur, so she gets cold in temperatures that just make Zeke playful.

She has a fleece-lined coat.

Lucy, modeling the latest in doggy fashion

The funny thing is that she seems to like her coat, in contrast to her raincoat, which she hates. When she’s in her raincoat, all she wants to do is stand still. If she’s forced to go for a walk, she refuses to relieve herself. But she’s all in for a walk in her cold-weather coat.

Here she is from behind, just as we turned around to head back up the mountain for home.

Going home

The light, square scuff marks on the pavement are from a compactor that was used to prepare Wildlife Trail for repaving. That road goes down the side of our property to a dead end. The pavement deteriorated over the years, and large gullies were washed out. Now someone plans to build at the bottom of the road, and his complaints finally moved the county to repair the road and put down tar and gravel. For some reason the county workers unloaded the compactor at the bottom of the hill and drove it the mile and a half up. Then, when they were finished, they drove it back down the hill.

We have mixed feelings about repaving Wildlife Trail. The dead end on Lavender Trail, up the ridge from our house, attracts a lot of people. Some drive up for the view. Some couples drive up because they want to be alone. Others drive up to throw a party. At least one person drove up to use a power cable for target practice, which caused a fire. If Wildlife Trail is passable, it will attract the same kind of visitors, at least until someone builds a house at the turn-around.