Saturday, October 23, 2010

There and Back Again

Cuppa and I surprised ourselves a little bit yesterday. We drove to the cottage to pick up stuff that we couldn't fit in the car after our extended-family vacation in August because the vehicle was too full of people. We went with our options open: return on the same day; stay overnight; or spend the weekend there. In our heads, option two, overnighting, was what we most expected to do. But with the weather being cold and windy, and comfortable beds at home awaiting, we hit the road home as soon as we loaded up Harriet the Chariot.

It was a good day for a drive, however. For most of the way, both coming and going, there was sun which lit up the tamaracks rather gloriously. And despite the fact that all of the other leaves had fallen, the oaks were still adamant about holding onto their bronze beauties. The drive home was especially pretty as the lowering sun cast the just the right angle of light.

On the way there, however, we saw a first — or two first, rather. We drove the extremely rural backroads, and at one point, I exclaimed to Cuppa that there was a fox trotting across the road up ahead. As we drew nearer, we saw that it was larger and darker and concluded that it was a wolf. Lightning struck a second time a little bit later. This time we got a closer look and decided that this was a coyote.

I suppose we could have been wrong both times, and they could have been regular run-of-the-mill dogs, but, given the backwoodsiness of the geography, neither of us really believe that. Both of these sightings are extremely rare; in fact, having never seen either before, it seems almost miraculously serendipitous as well as synchronous to witness both.

This morning, however, nature's other shoe dropped as we awoke to the season's first snowfall. Yes, it snowed overnight: so lightly that it could only be seen on bare rooftops and not the ground. Nevertheless, it was snow. Sigh: it could be a long winter.

12 comments:

Diana said...

Yes a long winter indeed, but that's what happens when you live in Canada!
LOL!!! Love Di ♥

JunieRose2005 said...

I enjoyed your adventure....That was a WOLF you saw !! :)

My goodness-snow this early!!! Ye- yer probably in for a long winter!!


Junie

JunieRose2005 said...

PS-

Forgot to say-"Cool header!!"

Mara said...

And here I was, fully expecting a photo of the fox, the wolf, the coyote and the dog.

And snow sounds at least better than cold, windy and rainy as we have over here!

Bernie said...

We are expecting wet snow Monday night and Tuesday.....far too early for me but we have had such a beautiful Fall I can't complain. It has turned cold here now.
Your drive yesterday sounds interesting, I have seen both wolves and coyotes and when not in a car they are a bit frightening.....I'm glad you had such a nice day....Hugs

Tonya said...

Sounds like a beautiful trip and to see the wolves/coyotes must have been amazing. Don't know if there are supposed to be actual pictures to this post as there are spaces between paragraphs but if there are they are not loading for me.. lol

Anvilcloud said...

No pictures -- just an old, goofy template.

Lorna said...

I saw a wolf once at about 20 metres from my hotel window in Banff. Awesome and scary. I'd love to see another but I think we've done our backwoodsy stuff for a while.

Beatrice P. Boyd said...

AC, maybe next time a photo of the fox (wolf?) or yourself in the snow? We're expecting temps in the 80s when we return home this week.

Ginnie said...

I'm glad you made it home safe and sound in one day. We have seen an upsurge of coyotes in our area. They used to be quite rare.

Doris said...

Lucky you to see a coyote. Diane and I think we saw one in Sutton. But after it has disappeared you start to question your observation!

Jinksy said...

serendipitous as well as synchronous
...and snow....

Today, the letter of choice is obviously "S"