Dogs and Dogwoods

Remember when we had that break in the summer heat about a month ago?  There were two days during the week when I was quite sure that autumn had arrived.  I eagerly packed my family in the car on Sunday and drove out to Gray Summit to enjoy what was supposed to be a comfortable day exploring Shaw Nature Reserve.

However, despite my efforts at pretending that fall had arrived, Mother Nature proved fickle and delivered a scorcher.  90+ degrees, battalions of chiggers and a crabby child made for an afternoon that I would not wish on anyone.

Ever-persistent in my desire to accomplish a fall walk, I packed everybody back up and went out again this past weekend. I carried with me a caramel apple from Merb's as bait to encourage my girls to enjoying the outdoors. Where weather fails, sugar can succeed.

We arrived in the early afternoon. Shaw Nature Reserve has an admission fee of 3 dollars for adults, and it is free for children under 12.  They have miles of trails - the ones we took were gravel and flat, although more strenuous walks were available.  There is plenty of opportunity for learning as well as enjoying the outdoors.  There are trails on which various local varieties of trees are labelled. There is also a house on the property with displays regarding conservation efforts. I was struck by the variety of land and micro-environments located in this one area - meadow, forest and river lowlands are all represented and visible on the property.

After coaxing all the walking I could out of the promise of one caramel apple, everyone was ready to leave.  On the way in, my wife had spotted a sign pointing the way to Purina Farms, which is just on the other side of 44 from Shaw park.  We had never been, so we took the short trip and checked it out.  

I didn't know that Purina Farms was free and open to the public.  They were open until 4, and we wandered the displays for a bit, visited the pigs, cattle and chickens while making the requisite animal noises (does it never get old?!), then stumbled into a dog show.  Every few hours, there is a show of "dog agility," replete with bouncy music and trainers, and bouncier dogs.  My personal favorite was the doggie distance jump.  Dogs were held at the end of a long runway while another trainer threw a Frisbee over a pool.  The dogs were then let go, and they exploded down the runway and lept into the pool after the Frisbee.  We happened to arrive in time to see a dog celebrity, who had recently performed the longest jump in the history of the sport (31 feet), and who was on his way to the Letterman show. While I felt honored to be in the presence of celebrity, I can say that the best part of the day was getting an opportunity to enjoy the company of my family during the first actual weekend of fall.