Autumn Dreams

The trees around the pond are beginning to turn, green softening with just a few precocious leaves donning a full autumn red.  The sun is still hot, but at a much lower angle.  As I walk to the gate to take the dogs out swimming my thoughts are turning to the dog sled.  The group I’m swimming will be the dogs on my team this year.  They are crazy, completely nuts.  They bark and scream with frustration when they can’t power themselves through the water fast enough.  They slice and angle and compete with one another as we round the little island.  I sit comfortably in my kayak and watch this mayhem against the red leaves reflected in the water.  Sometimes I imagine the force of these dogs when I first pull the release on the sled.  I remember I’ll be standing on a conveyance powered by seven gloriously athletic and exuberant dogs, celebrating the stretch of their legs with no concept of my sometimes dicey ride behind them.  I remind myself that I have brakes, lots of them.  There’s a drag mat brake, a bar brake, a snow hook.  I think my first run will be on a familiar rail trail, a longish drive, but well tended and quite straight, lovely and safe.