On our younger daughter's former piece of property, there was a trail through the woods that we would  occasionally walk. It was a fairly short circuit of perhaps a quarter mile. 

Pine needles and hardwood leaves padded the ground. The smell of decaying vegetation permeated the air. 

Though beautiful, hazards were abundant. Poison ivy and poison oak grew beside the path which inclined down the hill toward a creek. Wild roses displayed their thorns throughout the woods. Dead fall was often across the path forcing you to go over, under or around. Golden orb spiders cast their webs here and there across the open expanse. 

I never went on this trek alone. Sometimes the girls were with me. Sometimes the goats  decided to follow me. Occasionally the horse or pony would want to take the hike. But i was never without Cletus.

Cletus is a black Lab that just showed up on the property about 3 years ago. No tags. No collar. But he had been well taken care of and was healthy.

We figured he was just lost so we called neighbors and posted notes about him. We never got a response so he became a permanent fixture on the homestead.

He fell in well with the other dogs, Root, Dune and Lady. There was the occasional scuffle until the new pecking order was established and it was determined that Cletus was wedged between Root and Dune.

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I don't get to see Cletus much any more. We moved to town. They moved two and a half hours away.

When I do get to see him, he's always happy to see me. I think I'm still his favorite!