While I was taking this second photo from the corner of the house like I do every morning, Stella was already starting her walk without me. Not only was she starting on her own but today she was sitting at the entry to the computer room, wagging her tail and whining to go on her walk ... an hour early. It was barely past 8am and my second cup of coffee wasn't halfway finished. I set the camera to 'auto flash' and I think that may have made a difference today in this morning's photos.
The way she was taking off I thought she might really be on a scent and I would spend most of my walk running to catch her. I hadn't seen this quick action with her nose to the ground. I think she is changing her personality on these walks. I do know she is starting to tell me more often what she wants during the day. Whereas before, Sadie basically decided the 'what, when and where'.
I guess without wind, the 33° temperature hasn't bothered me yet on these walks. I keep looking at the iPhone Weather 10-day forecast and I don't see any high temperatures for each day over 58°. That is way below the normal average for this time of year. I told my friend in Phoenix yesterday that the hounds and I were thinking about a winter road trip this year to warmer temps.
Here is where it got a little interesting. Bloodhounds and Basset Hounds are NOT problem solvers like some dogs are. Their pain threshold is high so they don't feel sharp thorns when they get trapped in wild vines. They just keep charging ahead through them if they get hung up in the vines. One year Sadie did that as a puppy and a thorn cut the inside of her ear lengthwise like a razor blade. Off to the vet we went. That did not happen to Stella today ... but she wasn't happy about being tied up in vines.
It was disappointing to see the camera did not catch here raising her head through the vines and hopping upward slightly to get untangled. A step after this photo she was tangled up.
This is after she hopped out of the wild growing vines with sharp thorns ... like nothing happened.
That is facing north to northeast with the sun just barely above the horizon.
No verbal commands for her today ... she was on her own.
I've always like looking at the cloud patterns while on this walk.
As you can see with me 50mm away ... she is in a world of her own.
Amazing to see just how different the morning is outside an hour earlier than our normal time for walking but the same time we use to walk this past summer.
Ed told me in past years why the leaves were more colorful than other years, or lack thereof. I'll have to get on the internet and find out why because I cannot remember the reason he told me. I'll also look at last years fall photos to see when the leaves really started to look colorful. I might be mistaken that I should be seeing some leaves changing by now.
Just like all the other times on this walk, about the time I almost catch up to her while she is eating deer scat, she will trot away from me like nothing is going on. Notice her right ear is flipped up as she trots away.
I couldn't make up my mind where to put the focus, either the frosted stems or the bud ... consequently I ended up taking a poor photo.
Not only did she slow down in front of me but she stopped almost immediately in front of me. I couldn't resist taking an overhead photo of her.
Once she figured out that I was standing right there she took off trotting again ... but with a different way than her normal return home.
She veered left parallel to the older path we use to always take. I could tell by the frozen grass there had been some fresh 'traffic' overnight or early this morning and she was walking right in the middle of those.
She might look like she is wrapping up her morning walk ... but there is always something to distract her.
Heidi was where she normally is this time of day and in this kind of weather. She was very energetic thought when she woke up a little before 7am in the dark ... wanting breakfast.
I thought I might get something done this afternoon but all I did was finish reading Fear by Bob Woodward. I led the hounds outside after their lunch with with cool temps and a cold breeze. They were not much more interested than I was about staying outside to take some photos.
Stella didn't move from that spot until I headed toward the door right after that photo. Heidi was going to do her lap around the house but I was too cold without a jacket to follow her ... "too cold" and it's only October 19th.
It felt like snow was on the way instead of the rain we are suppose to get tonight. All of those bright skies this morning were gone for good, maybe for the weekend too.
With the cold weather and a poor start to blooming, I am surprised the red mums bloomed out to this.
I'm not sure but the hounds and I may take a short break from blogging for a few days or maybe change from a daily blog to 3-4 days per week. Or just photos and only a paragraph of content. I am finding it hard again to blog with a lot of photos and still get things done inside the house that I want to get finished. Throw in 2-3 hound walks during the day, a meal or two and there doesn't seem to be enough hours in the day unless I hit the projects running by 9am.
We will see what happens but that is the way I am leaning this afternoon.
60° inside the house today. Colder outside, makes me wonder if I will seek warmer weather this winter with just two hounds to ride along with. Although the day I took both of them to the vet a few weeks ago and got them out of the car each on separate 6' leashes ... Stella wrapped her leash around my legs right below the knee and Heidi circled around to put her leash above my ankles. I was trapped and laughing.
It reminded me of the time I was at the Rest Area on I-70 in the middle with the interstate on each side of us, west of St Louis in 2013. I was heading to Arkansas to pick up a Lil Snoozy Trailer, that I backed out of the deal 12 hours later ... I didn't have Stella then but Heidi went one way, Winston another and Sadie took off for the pet area .... I couldn't move and could see I had a full table of people laughing as I stood behind the H3 Hummer. I knew then traveling with three hounds was not going to happen.
A road trip is still on the table for analysis before winter arrives.
Stella slept through her 2pm walk. She might not want an afternoon walk today with the weather the way it is. Once Heidi had lunch all she wanted was a warm leather couch and a blanket over the top of her to stay warm while she slept. With strong winds predicted for tomorrow from the WNW ... I am feeling cooler temps than today. Inside watching college football all day and night Saturday will keep me from freezing.
There is never a bad day in retirement so all was good today in 'the tropics' of Southern Indiana.
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