@tattoodjay.I woke up at six in the morning, and it was still dark - the kind of dark that belongs to late autumn, when the world feels caught between seasons. Outside, the first snow had fallen overnight, not thick and permanent, but light and hesitant, like nature was trying the idea of winter on for size.
The snow was wet and heavy where it met the earth, clinging to the last stubborn leaves and turning the ground into a patchwork of grey mud and white flakes. It wasn’t a true winter cold yet - just a sharp, damp chill that reminded you winter was on its way, knocking softly at the door. The air smelled of fallen leaves and frost, of change.
My dog lives outdoors, and she was already waiting for me, her breath curling in soft clouds in the misty air. Her tail gave a single, steady wag - enough to say she’d been watching, ready for our walk.
I slipped on my warm wellies so I could tackle the wet grass, the trail, and that muddy road. With the mix of snow and rain, everything was a real mess!
But the dog didn't pay attention to the wet grass, it was rushing forward and I let it go off the leash.
A dog needs space. Tomorrow and the day after tomorrow I will go to work at the office, which means the dog will sit without walking.
By the way, today is a day off in Russia, a holiday.
It takes about 5 minutes to walk to the lake. Yesterday it was much more pleasant to walk, the road was dry and dense. Today, the ground beneath my feet resembles butter that has been spread on a sandwich and my feet are sliding on this sandwich.
Someone has trampled another good road to the lake on an ATV or even on an UAZ. I saw a lot of lying trees that had been sawn into chunks. Probably, someone recently harvested aspen firewood for themselves. There was no such road in the summer. But maybe even someone is clearing a plot for the construction of a house.
I must admit that beavers are actively helping to drop trees. By the way, yes, half of the trees were dropped not with the help of a chainsaw, but by the forces of beavers.
But I wanted to reach the lake from the other side, from the river. There was always a road leading to a factory station pumping water from a well.
The beginning of the lake. Ice.
Temperature swings are expected for the next 2 weeks - 2-3 at night and up to +5 in the afternoon. And, of course, precipitation almost every day. This is the nastiest weather, the nastiest time of the year, because of which people say that everything would freeze sooner, real winter would come sooner.
Why are there brick blocks in the forest? Probably, someone wanted to put a house here. And that was probably back in the 90s. In those years, people were actively developing land plots in the vicinity of our town and village. Now all these garden houses are destroyed, the land plots are overgrown with trees and shrubs.
By the way, a Niva car was parked by the river and an outboard motor could be heard on the river. Today I watched the French film L'enquête corse (2004) starring Jean Reno and Christian Clavier. They also drove such a car there. In the dialogue, they heard the phrase that the seat belts do not work.
I had such a car from 2000 to 2014, more precisely, I had 2 such cars and they always had a problem with seat belts.
I wanted to walk back along the river and get on the road to the house. But I decided to shorten the distance a little bit right through the thickets of grass. I shouldn't have done that, I came home soaked to the waist.
Friends, goodbye! Until the next walk.
Well. Have all my friends, observers, and readers, wonderful walks on Wednesdays. And also on Sundays and any other day!
Don’t Worry, Be Happy (C) Bobby McFerrin
Text & Photography by 
With love
Good luck and have fun