For the first time in a week, Aki and I have to squint. We are moving up a sun-drenched Perseverance Trail. My little dog would be fine except for the barking of a dog ahead of us on the trail. It seems to be inviting Aki to join it. Aki barks back, probably telling the other dog that she would love to play but her poop-bag of a human won’t let her off her lead.

Aki will stay on her lead until we leave this busy section of trail. Normally a dog happy to be leashed to her human, she jerks from time to time, usually when I push the shutter release on my camera.

Things calm down when we take a narrow trail along the hillside above the wooden flume carrying water to a downtown hydro plant. Now off lead, the little dog trots ahead. She shows impatience if I stop too long to photograph the fall color. But I am like a man coming off a vegetable-only diet—starved for rich, visual food. This morning’s sun is turning the fading yellow-brown leaves into jewels