Wednesday

The Dog Rambler E-diary

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February 2012
Walk Dogs on walk

Around Saltoun Wood

Length

6 miles

Cyrano, Dylan, Finn, Gustave, Jolie, Phoebe, Solo

Out to Saltoun Woods where there is a lot of clearance work going on. Partly to clear away the fallen trees from January but also it appears to take advantage of having people working in the wood to take down other trees. Great piles of logs laying beside the track like funeral pyres ready to be lit, mourning the loss of the trees. Stripped of their bark their bare yellow trunks unkind on the eye. The harshness of destruction. All around echoed the hum and whine of chainsaws cutting away at the heart of the woods. Vehicles too carrying logs toward the entrance and other long limbed trucks ripping the branches from the trees with tearing noises of splintering and fracturing wood. It was this noise that the dogs were unsure of. It stopped Cyrano and Finn in their tracks. Phoebe stopped rolling Gustave over and over with her nose. Dylan bravely stalked off toward the trees on the pretext of investigating. He did not go far. Another ripping noise and the churn of the labouring machinery made him think better of it. I kept going and Jolie and Solo followed demonstrating to the others how to proceed.

It was not really much of an encounter. The noise and machinery were well off the track and we did not have to divert our route. Once it was behind us the dogs got back to the business of having fun. Phoebe switched from Gustave to Finn and as though size does not matter soon had him on his back as well. Jolie may possibly have suffered the same fate but her nimble dancing around kept her out of Phoebes long reach. A relived Gustave took shelter with me. Although not too much as later on he made a spirited effort to tackle Phoebe again, playing on the fact that she was preoccupied with Finn. We left the once dense woodland, now with open wounds of piled and useless branches like discarded arms and legs. Streaks of sun bursting through the shattered canopy bringing new light and colours to the once concealed woodland floor. Out into the fields onto farm vehicle tracks we strode. Phoebe and Finn forgetting that they are not allowed onto the fields themselves had to be warned several times and eventually sat down and spoken to. In the hedges Dylan was trying to flush out game birds without success. Cyrano hung nearby hoping to benefit. Solo swung along the track between clearly green fields. A small sense of Spring on the horizon? The bare brown earth being banished by the creeping growth. We wheeled around the fields and back into the woods. Taking several turns we arrived at the fat pond. As usual it was Cyrano and Solo who were first in but everyone had at least a paddle. It was not the cleanest. That wonderful orange colour of the East Lothian earth had leeched into the water. Not to worry. After an amble around the trees with Finn, Jolie and Phoebe still tangled together and Cyrano weighing up whether to take a chance too and Gustave back in the safety of my shadow we made for a secluded path down by the river. Much to Solos delight. I am sure his eyes lit up as we scrambled down the bank. Here the wood had a very different feel. Few pine trees and wide grassy spaces between the birches and other small deciduous trees. Groups of snowdrops pushed up their white heads like a myriad of bonneted maidens. It was like being in Lark Rise to Candleford. Cyrano and Solo hogged the water with Cyrano getting across the slim river and running along the other side. Solo too busy looking at me in the hope of another stick. Dylan stalked along the narrow and sometime precarious half path leading us safely to the end.

Finn, Jolie and Phoebe content to follow him without too much nonsense. As we rejoined the main path we were greeted by the first primrose I have seen this year. Its green crown nestled flat into the grass and its delicate yellow floweres cupped in the centre like a decoration of soft gold. Back at the car and we bumped into Carole from HappyDoggyDays and she had with her Chloe, Hannah and Penny. I had seen her several times at a distance today and waved over but did not know they were with her. It was lovely to see the wee girls who had spent a Saturday day with me only a couple of weeks ago. It was also lovely to see Carole!

Nick

Photo slideshow from the walk

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