By: Lynda Shadel The word "fungus" sounds yucky. There is an abundance of mushrooms in the woods where I walk the dogs. Mushrooms come in all shapes, sizes, and colors. In fact, they are not yucky, but quite beautiful when you look closer. I am reminded that...
By: Lynda Shadel Spring is a special time of new beginnings in the woods. Everything is coming to life, bursting from its dormant state with new growth. The new plants and the increasingly warm temperatures are exhilarating for both myself and the dogs. In his letter...
By: Lynda Shadel I love walking in the new fallen snow. There is something really beautiful about creating the first tracks in snow. I usually forge my own path as the dogs run everywhere. But I have to be careful. I might fall because the snow covers rocks,...
By: Lynda Shadel The past year has been a wet one, and with the rain comes mud. During my walks, the mud can become treacherous. Often I try to just step over the mud rather than taking the harder way of avoiding it altogether. I sometimes misjudge and end up...
By: Lynda Shadel One of my routes for walking the dogs requires me to take the same road there and back. At the end of the woods is a tree that I touch to make sure I complete the walk and return home. Now, I have to admit there are times when I want to stop...
By: Lynda Shadel The paths we walk in the woods occasionally need to be pruned. Every once in a while, I will take along my pruners to clear the branches that are small enough for me to cut. Sometimes my husband comes along with his chainsaw to cut and clear...
By: Lynda Shadel Wally is short in stature. I call him a low-rider because his legs are short, and his belly doesn’t clear the ground by much. I would have to lie on the ground to get a perspective of how differently Wally sees the world. He misses a lot because he...
By: Lynda Shadel When I come home from work, I take the dogs for a walk before it gets dark. But sometimes when I look to the west I can see an approaching storm. Not using the best judgment, I sometimes try to beat the storm. But Charlie, who has shepherding...
By: Lynda Shadel I have to admire the persistence of my hunter dogs, Wally and Charlie. Once they tree a squirrel, they stand on their back legs at the base of the tree and bark and bark and bark—believing the barking will make the squirrel come down out of the...
Lyndal Shadel, Potato Valley, PA When I walk my two dogs and observe their behavior, it’s amazing that Wally, the Jack Russell terrier, thinks he has no limitations—even though he measures only a foot high at his back compared to Charlie, the Border...
Lyndal Shadel, Potato Valley, PA Now, if you are animal lovers, I need to apologize to you. My two dogs, Wally and Charlie, are quite the hunters. Their focus is mainly on ground hogs, squirrels, and a few muskrats. More often than not, Charlie will want to...
By: By: Lyndal Shadel, Potato Valley, PA. My husband and I are blessed to live on a farm in a beautiful valley in central Pennsylvania, called Potato Valley. Our farm is in the woods, tucked away from the primary roads. This gives us the luxury of allowing our...