Close encounter

What could Kai possibly be so intent on during our walk Sunday afternoon?

Why, it's a wee chipmunk, just recently emerged from its winter's snooze. Kai didn't stand a chance of getting too close to our little Chippy, but the standoff lasted for a good minute before the chipmunk got bored and scampered under the building. Kai encountered the chipmunk on another circuit around the yard, but Chippy was even faster getting away that time.

And doesn't the bare ground look positively delightful?

As mud season commences, Kai and I have been traveling a bit afield to find good places to walk so we don't end up knee-deep and stuck somewhere. We were on this paved trail in University Forest on Saturday afternoon. That's Kai in the lower right corner, looking mighty perky as we head up the hill and around the corner.

He is learning to behave as we share the trail with walkers, joggers, bicyclists and other pooches, and he is doing a fine job at it. We've mastered sitting when someone is approaching and Saturday we even tried to keep walking sedately as joggers flew past. He did marvelously!

He gets a bit nervous when he can't see what's ahead of him (which is why he is so intent pictured above), but he loves all the new smells. We still haven't investigated all the paths at the forest yet, but I suspect we will before the month is out if the weather holds.