Today was one of the very few times Chile has been on our deck since the hawk started to terrorize all small animals in our yard last July. However, having not seen the hawk in over a week, I thought it was safe today. With Chile dressed in her Halloween outfit, I allowed her to be with me on the deck. We played for a while before I turned my attention to photographing the groundhog out in the yard. As in days of old, Chile then sacked out in the warm sunshine for a contented nap. You can see how happy she looks.

Nevertheless, I suddenly got a bad feeling about her laying there (about 4 feet away from me) and being vulnerable. So I immediately took her back inside the house.

Just as soon as I went back outside again, the hawk flew over looking for prey. So it unfortunately looks like my dogs will never be safe back out on the deck again. How sad for me and how sad for them. However with all the tropical house plants no longer out on the deck, the dogs are currently more vulnerable to attack than they were all Summer long. They now have nowhere to hide. So I will have to continue to be very careful with them. As much as I was hopeful today, life at our house can no longer go back to how it used to be.

I was very, very, very lucky that I made Chile go back inside the house today when I did & she was then safe when the hawk appeared out of nowhere. Chile isn't just a dog; she's family.