I've been catching up on Sea-Ami and The Money Pit sites this evening but none of my comments will post! Just want to let you guys know I appreciate the news. S'te, my niece, has a great spread of pictures on their outdoor fence project and TT's kitchen biscuts project!

I loved the sentiment for Veteran's Day that Diane posted on her site. Veteran's Day passed very quietly here. Klamath Falls is constructing a veteran's memorial wall in Veteran's Park and we are purchasing two bricks...one for Jack's father - who received a purple heart and made the Army his career and one for Jack who served in the 101st Airborne Division. We felt it was a neat thing to do on veterans day.

Last night I posted a bunch of pictures to flickr if anyone is interested in seeing the pictures of what we've been doing. Just click on the flickr badge to the left and it'll take you to the site.

During tonight's walk I got a little rattled and will be re-thinking walking for an hour every day. It's dark when I leave for work at 7 am and gets dark very soon after I get home around 5 pm, so I have been walking in the dark for the last couple of weeks. Often my friend Signe joins me but tonight she couldn't so it was just Shilo and I. I walked up what we call "The Road to Nowhere" - a wonderfully landscaped, paved two lane entrance to a housing development that never materialized. The pavement ends within a quarter of a mile but the dirt road continues on - branching in several directions through the sage covered hills. It was 6 pm and I envisioned a stress free walk under the stars along the dirt road where Shilo could run free without fear of traffic or disturbing anyone.

Walking "briskly", as the doctor ordered, I can cover some distance in 30 minutes! I decided to take a left fork in the dirt road that Signe and I had never gone down but had speculated that it would connect with the upper right fork at some point. This streach of road dipped down into a wash then up a small hill and around a couple others by the time I reached my turn around time. As I was walking out I noticed headlights moving along the upper dirt road fork and congradulated myself in picking the "unused" fork. I wondered what they might be doing out here on a Tuesday evening which lead me to thinking of all the weird stuff we see on CSI. If they were out poaching deer a stray bullet could hit me and they wouldn't even know it! The other reasons for being out there in the dark would be drinking, drugging, or seeking mischief.

And then I heard a truck on the road behind me. With the ideas that had just gone through my head I choose to call Shilo and walked in to the sage before they saw us and watch them passby. I still needed to walk "out" 5 more minutes so I returned to the road and marched on. I watched the headlights of the truck as they moved along half a mile ahead of me and felt all was well until the the truck turned around and stopped. My 5 minutes were up.

I turned around and started back the way I'd come a little more briskly than I'd gone out. I walk about 11 minute miles- 30 minutes- I figured I was a little under 3 miles from my car. If I walked very quickly I might be back to the pavement before the truck returned down the road. I was suddenly aware of how dark, quiet, and remote the area was. I flipped open my cell phone to call Signe. She knew the area I was in and would best know where I was. Headlights lit up the sky above me as another truck bounced alongthe rutted road on the ridge above me. I stepped off the road again and stood behind a juniper until they'd passed and gone around the hill I'd just come around. Now there were 2 trucks behind me. Back on the road I dialed Signe. She wasn't home but I gave Leo a rundown of where I was and my concerns - asking him to have Signe call me when she got home.

As soon as I hung up my cell rang and it was Signe! Just checking in as she left work! Speaking somewhat breathlessly, as I was covering ground as quickly as I could in the darkness,and was making my way up a hill, I told her my fears and that I just wanted someone to know where I was just in case something occurred - which at this point was most likely going to be a sprained ankle. The road was cut into the side of the hill at this point and fell away into the wash I'd just come up from on the far side so when I heard the third truck moving along the ridge just above me I felt trapped in plain sight. As soon as they came around the switchback I would be in thier headlights. Then it dawned on me if they came around the corner quickly they could hit me or Shilo - no one would expect that someone would be walking out here in the dark! Still talking to Signe I switched on my flashlight and flashed it around in the air so the driver would see it. We were coming to the turn at very nearly the same time. The driver stopped and waited until I'd made my way past then continued in the other direction.

Now I really wanted to get back to the car and figured I still had 1.5 to go so I told Signe I'd call her as soon as I got the car but wanted to hang up and really cover some ground while the vehicles were all still behind me. Signe offered to come and walk towards me so we could meet up and then there would be two of us out in the dark! She is the best of friends! I told her "No", and that this was all just imagined stuff so far and to go on home, if I didn't call in 40 minutes send the guys out for me. We hung up.

I broke into a semi-jog. Shilo romped in the road ahead of me... thoroughly enjoying the outing!
Behind me I heard the truck that I'd just passed turn around and start up the hill again!

Jack just came out and pointed out that it is 11:40 pm. I've got to go to bed. I'll continue the story tomorrow night...