It’s time to use the alder tree that fell down in last week’s storm. It doesn’t take long to drag the pieces of the trunk to the sides of the path to line them. As the wood deteriorates, moss will cover it, creating a soft, green border.

It doesn’t take long for the dogs and chickens to use the new path, though most of the paths are ones the dogs made first. I’m just widening and lining them. When you walk through the woods, you see myriad paths created and maintained by dogs, deer, coyotes, and many other animals. It makes you wonder how long it will be before Google sends out dog sized robots to map and photograph all these animal trails. Or perhaps they could be mapped at night using silent drones with infrared cameras to trace where the deer and coyotes go. Then during the day, the little robots could zip along photographing the animal trails.