The Last Leaves of Fall

This is my favorite time of year. The very turning of the calendar to October brings a big smile to my face! But the stars have not been aligned in my favor to get any great fall pictures. We took an early vacation this year, before the leaves started to change colors. Then, whenever I had a free weekend, the weather didn't cooperate.

Finally, this past Sunday, while there was a leaf or two still on the trees, we took a short ride to a nearby lake. It's pretty small and you'll totally miss it, if you don't know where to look. The only reason I knew about it was I read a short article recently about the little donkeys that hang out there. And we've lived here for over 30 years! (I guess I don't get out much...)

Look, there's even a bit of a hill! 

Ok, now about those donkeys ... I don't know how many there are, but we saw four. And I just read that some goats live there too. The goats and donkeys were hired by the city with the official title of Vegetation Management. What a great idea! 

Here they are. They were quite focused on their job and not too interested in posing for the camera.

I can't resist being amused at the irony of going to look for donkeys right after last week's insane election. [And I promise that's the only reference I'll make.]

They only looked up when they noticed Khaleesi. See her front paw lifted up? She was like, whaaaa...what is this strange dog? The dog and donkey glanced at each other, then went about their business. Neither was fazed by the other.

I think this is the best picture I've ever gotten of her. She was so happy to be out in the sunshine in a brand new place. So many new smells! (don't worry; I edited out the leash).

Oh, we saw one other critter hanging around the lake.

And then it was back up the hill for a country ride home.  Somehow, I'm gonna use this last photo in an interesting digital collage.

And definitely gonna get a 5x7 print of Khaleesi's pic!