Super Bowl Sunday Hound Walk

The sun was bright but it was windy, more than usual. I almost thought of taking the walk without the camera today but anymore that Nikon D3200 is part of the walk and part of me whenever I go outside. I never put the shoulder strap back on when it was returned last spring from the Nikon Repair Facility. I like that much better and find no problems carrying it one hand. It seems to fit my right hand like a glove.

Soon after starting the walk today I decided I would try something new ... kind of like a test ... I would not be calling them to "come on", nor would I be calling one or both of them to "get out of there". No, today I was just going to walk and take photos. I wanted to see how they would react.

The first point in the walk that I started wondering what was going to happen was where the deer bed down ... is that the right term? I don't know because I am not a hunter. I could tell from a distance that Stella was really deep in the brush and Sadie was not far behind her. In fact a few minutes later when I arrived, Sadie was the one deep in the brush ... something had caught her interest.

 

You can see Stella just barely to the right of center

This is the bed area of the deer

They took opposite paths toward the treeline but once Stella saw that Sadie had found something she headed for what I call her normal spot. I walked by them not saying a word. I continued walking, turning around at times to take photos ... neither of them had moved, they were enjoying whatever it was they had found.

Only today was different. One, I wasn't saying a word to get them to come to me and two they were not moving no matter how far away I was walking. Sadie would look up at me at times to see where I was and what I was doing. It was Stella that realized she was left alone, that I wasn't around ... she didn't wait on Sadie ... she put her nose to the ground and sprinted, following the path that I had taken.

After taking that last photo of Stella running toward me, I glanced up at Sadie and she was still chowing down on her afternoon snack of something. I was almost 3/4 of the way into the walk and far enough away the 55mm lens setting barely picked her up in the photo.

She then realized that I was not going to call her name and I wasn't going to wait .. if dogs can realize something like that ... some people say they can't. She didn't follow the path that Stella took nor did she put her nose to the ground ... she saw where we were and was going to get to us in the shortest distance and the fastest time possible.

Neither hound had to stop to catch their breath after their run ... they both got on the path and headed home.

Don asked about the high power wire the other day. In past photos you could pick up a part of that tower. I decided today to take a photo of that tower, plus show just how bright, clear and sunny the sky was today a week into February ... will we have 'a winter' this year in 'the tropics' ??

In other news, the more I look at it, the more I have decided I am going to cut the small trees at ground level, tear out that annual ivy that grows out of control only on the upper half of this area. I'll rake the roots out like I did to the piece of ground just to the right of it, last April. Then I will till the ground with a handheld type that has the long handle. This time after I lay grass seed, I am going to cover it in straw, unlike last April. I thought of planting some wild flowers but I've never had luck with that process the times I have tried before. I like the vision of that area being all green grass and that old 75 year fence post always exposed ... along with the roll of barbed wire hanging at the bottom of the post.

This post is showing up sometime during the Super Bowl for a reason. I didn't want to post this at the same time as Heidi's post earlier this afternoon. You might find this different, since I am a self proclaimed football addict ... but I don't like the week before the Super Bowl with all the media hype that has "too much info" in prepping for the Super Bowl every year. Nor do I like watching the "pre-game" analysis the day of the game, leading up to kickoff.

I love the commercials ... I hate the halftime show.

So ... I don't turn the game on until teams are lining up for the opening kickoff. I shut the tv volume either all the way down or the tv off during the halftime show that is becoming longer and longer by the year .. hate it. And I turn off the game as soon as the last play of the game is finished.

I guess this will be the last game we will see Peyton Manning play. Even though he plays for Denver, those of us football fans in Indiana still root for him to do well, except when they play the Colts. His time here  probably saved NFL football for the state of Indiana and definitely increased interest in football from the Pop Warner Leagues up through the High School level of play. Personally I hope it is his last game. I would hate to see him come back next year, and like some other great QB's have and played 1 year too many. No predictions on who wins ... but I would like to see Peyton Manning end his career with a win.

Otherwise, while the Super Bowl 50 is on tv here in 'the tropics' of Southern Indiana ... there is one SURE bet you would win ... all of the hounds will be sleeping during the game and Sadie will likely be snoring through most of it.