Hard for me to believe that we went 17 days into the new year -- the new decade! -- without going to Roundrock. Circumstances got in the way, but yesterday I decided I wasn't going to delay my return to the woods any longer, so we jumped into the truck (pups included) and drove through the thick, thick fog to our forest. Except for the road in (and then out) we had a wonderful time. The ground is frozen except on the surface. Thus all of the melted snow and ice is not being absorbed. What doesn't find a way to run off (which is a problem since lingering ice dams are blocking some normal run-off routes) just sits on the surface. Add a few days with temps above freezing, and add the apparent fact that the whole county seems to want to visit my cabin when I'm not there, and you have a horrible gumbo of a road across the meadow and along my northern property line. It was nothing but sluices and sliding and slinging of mud. But the nimble Prolechariot made it through, and we parked by the cabin feeling like victors. Flike had been out to the woods on our last trip, but that was with the whole family, so there was plenty of supervision. On yesterday's trip, it was just Libby and I to make sure he didn't get eaten by a bear or something. But the goal is the have a companion to join us on our forest romps, so we let him off his leash to see how he would behave. He was perfect. Of course he was excited to have so much open ground for his long legs to course across, and there are all of those wonderful smells in the forest, and good things to eat (ugh!), and the full measure of puppyhood still in his 40+ pounds, so he was bounding from here to there to the other place constantly. Whenever we called him back, though, he came running. Good dog! Queequeg, on the other hand, is not so obedient. Sure, he wants to do everything Flike does, but when he strays too far from us, we're certain a lurking bobcat or coyote is ready to snatch him. Nor does he come when called, unless there's something in it for him, like a treat. So Queequeg spent the day on the end of his leash, which can be cumbersome for both dog and master in the dense undergrowth and frequent windfall of an Ozark forest. Plus though his spirit is roaring, his little legs just don't have the stamina that Flike's do, so he got carried a bit on our walks. We got a few important chores done, which I'll tell you about in the coming days, but the biggest news is that Flike is proving himself to be a perfect Roundrock companion. Missouri calendar:

• Martin Luther King Jr. Day (observed)

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