Walking Frannie - Father Rhine 2

There is just something about walking along a large body of water be it the Atlantic Ocean, Lake Eire or the Rhine River. It just has a different feeling to it.

To reach the Rhine, Frannie and I must make out way through the maze of streets in Wallersheim. Finally reaching a small alley that passes by a half-timbered building that bulges a foot into our path from settling over the 300 or 400 years of it's existence. At the end of this alley we reach the Rhine and are suddenly have unobstructed views across and down the river. Maybe that is part of it. As your eyes are able to see further, your might is allowed to follow, free from obstuctions.

Maybe it is just some thing primal, a distant memory of the habitat of early ancestors as they spread along the coasts.

For Frannie, it is primarily about the smells. Mostly this is the smells of other dogs, as the trail is a popular place for people in the village to take their dogs. But also included are the birds. There is a large population of mallard ducks and swans. But also gulls and cormorants can be seen (and I guess smelled). Also, there is a pair of Nile geese. No one knows they came from. They just showed up one day a couple of years ago and have stayed ever since. They have even done some inner breeding with the mallards, as there are some ducks that seem to combine characteristics of the two.

Frannie is particularly interested in the ducks and the swans. She will not only smell where they have been but will stand on the bank, ears forward, watching them for minutes on end. The swans are not exactly happy with Frannie's interest, especially when they are out of the water. They will stand up tall, making themselves appear as large as possible, and start hissing at her. Frannie makes no move towards them, but she does stand her ground, and every now and again looks at me like she is asking "what exactly is their problem, I just was to look". For those who know Frannie, they know this is quite a change for our dog.