For what do we live, but to make sport for our neighbors?*

Now that the weather is getting better, and before it gets gross (the six seconds of nice we have around here), hubs and I have been taking the pups around "the circuit" twice in the evenings.

The circuit is an ATV trail around the perimeter of our property that the previous owners made. It's a mile (almost exactly) if you do it twice, and it's shaded (so doable even in the summer if you wait til the evening) and really just a pleasant stroll for all of us. The boys ride their bikes (pedal and dirt) on it as well.

Since we don't have an ATV (I hesitantly add "yet" here as I suspect we're going to end up with one before the end of days), the path gets hidden in the fall when the trees shed their leaves. This becomes a bit of an issue as they are also slippery and they hide tree roots and rocks (which I always manage to find and then fall on my caboose.)

In the fall, I asked the boys to take the leaf blower around and clear off the path. It was met with eye rolling and grumbling and the elder boy did a half...hearted stab at it. (He only took one battery, which wasn't fully charged, so yeah, he got a tiny bit around and made marginal progress.) And I let it go because I'm trying to pick my battles with them and...well, this wasn't a battle to pick.

But now that we're back at it, not only am I tired of tripping, I am also borderline terrified the whole time we're out there.

Why, you ask? Well, I'll tell you.

Because the varied shades of orange and yellow oak leaves that cover our forest ground are really very similar to the patches of color on copperheads, which are native to the area.

I am fully aware that there are probably some living on our property. We have 10 acres that are mostly forest. There are probably snakes out there. But...I don't dwell on it.

But with the leaves on the path? I spend the whole time staring at the ground, hypervigilant.

It is perhaps less relaxing than an evening walk ought to be.

So, today, youngest and I went out with all four batteries and the leaf blower and had ourselves a nice walk. And we cleared off the path.

And I'm sure collected some odd looks from anyone driving by if they spotted us on the part of the path that's close to the main road.

Ah well. It's now clear and I'm hopeful that maybe I won't be as fretful on the next walk.

*spot the quote

** Fun aside, youngest decided that hyperfocusing on copperheads and regaling me with all the various facts about them and other forms of snakes while we did this activity was just the thing to do. It was awesome. No. Really. Promise. *shudder*