Several Sunday Surprises

Sundays are supposed to be days of rest. Today began a bit chilly unlike the scorchers we had earlier in the week. I turned the horses out, completed the barn chores, and brought the Sunday paper in so the good husband could enjoy his morning ritual. The rain brought out several beautiful floral surprises! A lone pink iris that has not bloomed since we owned the farm has opened up. The yellow irises now dominate Hazel's bulb garden and my peonies have blossomed. So pretty!

I intended on blogging but then the dogs began to bark. The barks were urgent 'Mom, there are humans close to the house!' type of barks. Strong and consistant. I let Coty out immediately, slipped on my shoes, got the camera, put the long lens in place and walked briskly in the back yard, up the hill and hid in the woods. Probably someone hunting turkeys although the turkeys have left long ago due to those two dogs that run the deer. My good canines continued to bark but with less frequency. They stayed still and I stayed still. I heard nothing. No twigs snapping, no voices. The birds did not sing up the hill though they were chirping below me. All was quiet for several minutes. The brush was thick, the thorns stood ready to stab me with their painful points and poison ivy was everywhere. I prayed no ticks would find a home on my body. The dogs began to bark again and then I heard the voices. I simply yelled firmly (with no menace) to get out of my woods and that they were trespassing. Twice. The voices sounded young. I couldn't head straight up to where they were in the clothes that I had on without tearing my skin so I took the 'secret path' up this incline I call Cardiac Hill. It is brutal. Huge massive rocks support the hill and on top it goes straight down on the right side. I heard an adult male giving kids directions as to where to go. I saw them and tried to capture them with the long lens but missed as I neglected to turn on the 'sports' mode. I chastised myself as I was nearing the top for not being in better shape. In plain view an adult man and a teenage boy were carrying neatly coiled heavy ropes on their shoulders. I was behind them only within a few feet. They were oblivious of me. I simply watched and listened for about three minutes. They were planning to repel down those cliffs. The three youngsters were below. The girl wore a red jacket. When they began slipping the ropes off, I quietly said 'whoa, don't do that'. They turned and were surprised I was so close. I explained that I owned the land and did not want anyone on it, especially near those cliffs where someone could get hurt. The man insisted he did not see my signs. I noticed the boy had a knife. As usual millions of thoughts ran through my mind, but I refused to listen to them, remained calm and engaged the man in a conversation about his black dually deisel Dodge. I complimented 'Brittany' for reaching the top first and joked with the thin kid who stopped to rest. That spurred the heavier kid to come in second place. I showed them a better way to get out of the woods so they would not get scratched and off they went, hopefully never to return again.

I chose a different way down the hill and alarmed a deer despite my verbal assurances that it was I. She continued to snort which caused me to 'wonder had they come back'? The dogs would tell me. My question is, if they were repelling, then why were they over near the house? Why did they stop talking when the dogs were barking? Hmmmm. We all met at the rocks close to the same time. The steepness and heavy brush slowed me down which was proof that they were not near the rocks. The dogs were pointed in a different direction. Sundays are supposed to be for relaxing but I am very thankful that all was well and ended well. Now, I can pick some blooms, make an arrangement and still have time to get on that treadmill and workout!