I saw a pheasant, a rabbit and a spotted woodpecker this morning and heard an owl this evening, as I have been up the woods twice today. That’s not unusual I also noticed in what seems to be only a couple of days, the majority of the leaves have been blown off the trees. There is a late autumn feel which has much less yellow and the tree trunks and branches are silhouetted against the sky.
This morning I cam across a woman who had lost her dog and she was understandably rather agitated, I can tell she was distracted and trying not to be overwhelmed with anxiety. I know I’ve been there and got the dog wont come back T. shirt. Her Beagle run off on the trail of something. This is what I get with Fred when the button stays on. We walked a some way and she told me all about the history of her dogs, I hope it helped her. I said I always wait in the area where I last saw or realised Fred had gone, because when he does realise the time and wants to come back, it seems to be where he last saw me is where he goes. I said walking off looking looking all over the place is often not the best strategy, even though it feels like your doing something. I said if I have done that in the past and walked randomly all over the woods shouting, I have generally found him back near the car, half an hour later. I explained if I found this dog could I put it on my lead and phone you. She said yes and gave me her number, she explained they had walked to the woods and would phone home to see if she had run home and that she would go back to place where they were separated. We said goodbye and I felt her anxiety. About ten minutes later she phoned me to say they were back together and that she had found her in the field where they had originally got separated. Happy days.
I had been listening to Loosing Eden by Lucy Jones on my head phones and was interrupted in the middle of a description of ‘Forest Bathing’ when I walked into the lost dog thing. Rather than go back into the book I thought I should perhaps keep an eye on my own dog who is a likely to forget the time while on the trail of a squirrel. So it is not untill now I have been able to research Forest Bathing an its benefits until now. See link
belowhttps://www.nationaltrust.org.uk/lists/a-beginners-guide-to-forest-bathing
It turns out it is part of a national health programme in Japan! I think I forest bath on a subliminal level while on these dogs walks and it is why it has become so important to me.
