Every morning, I go to the fence and I say, “Ready to walk?” and my four lovely dogs gather by the gate, lie down and wait for me to say, “c’mon.” Then they rush ahead and we head out into the woods. It’s a bit of a tough decision these days, the unusually warm weather (do I really live in a country where most people do not believe in climate change?) has unleashed hordes of ticks. We pick about a dozen off of each dog each day. Few treatments – collars, home remedies – are effective, I find, but we’ve decided to talk our walks every day anyway. The crew seems to approve. Wouldn’t mind a sharp frost.