AN ADVENTURE

The fall season had arrived and my parents decided to go hiking on the flood plains at the edge of the foothills. To be sure picnic fixings would include me I did a little whining and it always works. To reach the water required a walk along an abandoned road through the forest that was closed to vehicle traffic with two foot high cement well-heads at the entrance. The road had once led to a natural gas well head and compressor station. In the opposite direction of the well head a game trail appeared leading down through the bush to a river. This large flood plane was made of rocks and my mom was planning to collect some nice ones although she had not figured on carrying any rocks this distance back to the truck. That is anyone's guess.

First it was hiking time and we set off along the flood plain, walked along the river's edge on the rocks. I went into the bush because those rocks were too hard for my soft little paws.. One thing we had to watch out for was bears. At that time of the year they are out in full force. My mom wore bear bells around her ankles and carried two tin plates to bang together in case we spotted a bear. My dad should have brought his shotgun just in case but he said we would e okay, Yeah, right, I thought. My parents were talking and I was nearby in the bush when I heard a rustling off to my right in a thick stand of spruce but I had to investigate this noise. I ambled further into the woods. My parents and the river were to my left. Then I heard my dad call me and give his shrill whistle but I wasn't about give up my search. Now all of a sudden I had he feeling that I was being watched. I tilted my head upwards, stuck my nose in the air and sniffed in every direction to see if I could get the scent of something, a faint odor in the wind, but of what? I wanted quiet so I could listen for any unusual sounds. Then I stopped dead in my tracks, just 10 feet in front of me, not one, not two, but three pairs of eyes peering ahead, right at me, three raccoons, clinging to the birch tree in deep concentration and looking me over.