Walking in the dark

We meant to post this entry a couple nights ago.

One evening this week - maybe Wednesday - we stayed a little late at work to finish up some things. That meant we got home as it was getting dark and we had to go for our walk in the dark. We chose to walk along the canal, figuring that was safer. We took two flashlights because the entire path we planned to walk isn't lit. Well, walking along the canal kept us out of the range of cars. We hadn't reckoned, however, on one of the flashlights dying on us less than a kilometer out. By then we had discovered the dangers of walking the canal path: horse hooey. Big piles of it. Nevertheless we soldiered on, past the parts of the path that are lighted, saving the battery on our remaining flashlight. We encountered Mama cow and three calves OUTSIDE the pasture, grazing by the path along the canal. This was the second time I'd met Mama so I guess she figured we were harmless and she ignored us. (The first time she and the calfs ran along the path in front of me until I gave up and turned around.) Anyway, meeting up with Mama wasn't scarey; not knowing where she and the babies had been, if you know what I mean, was. We eventually got to our turning around point and headed home, racing the waning battery in our remaining flashlight and trying to remember exactly where we'd seen those big piles. Fortunately we guessed right and the light lasted.

The next day we walked at work.