Unexpected Excitement

It was only going to be for a few days but the hounds, dog and I did not hesitate going into our winter hibernation mode last week. For me that meant doing nothing. Literally. Hours and hours spent on the computer, movie watching, watching the baseball playoffs and some more analysis on tv service provider. The dog (Walter) changed his routines slightly where he not only took over Watson's chair at night but decided sleeping on Stella's sleeping bag in the corner across from the bed wasn't warm enough for him. On the bed was better.

Now Walter does mind cold weather. He will go out and do what he needs to do but will sprint back to the patio door once he is done. Not the hounds. With squirrels, rabbits, birds and possible other nighttime critters inside their fence and in the backyard, the two hounds cover every inch of that yard with their noses to the ground even with the temperature says 30°. In fact most days I have to almost bribe them to come back inside no matter how cold it was.

Even though it was windy on Sunday the leaves were not going anywhere, just more were falling from the trees. They were nice and very dry so I mowed them everywhere but the front yard which didn't have many.

Little did the hounds and the dog know that their Monday was going to be filled with excitement and plenty of things and people to bark at. Around 7:15am I hear sounds that don't sound like the usual school bus passing by, outside my opened computer room window. Someone was having major tree cutting done and it just so happened it was my next door neighbor.

She had mentioned last month that she was going to take the large oak tree down that sits close to my property line with a couple of long limbs heading for my roof. She also had a couple of low hanging limbs over her roof. Plus the roots of that tree had pushed up her old brick patio. She had a new patio installed last month so I figured they were coming to cut that tree down. I hated to see it go because it looks to be really healthy and it provides a lot of shade to the backyard. 

But they were there for a different reason and different trees.

I found it hard to picture where something that big and heavy was going to fit anywhere in her yard but it did find space to haul out all the limbs and brush as they were cutting them, and fed them into the their machine that turned trees into sawdust.

Of course Henry and Watson had to go out and check what was getting near their yard. Watson was barking and baying but Monday morning was different. Instead of going outside with my Bark Be Gone ultra sound to stop the barking, I decided to let them bark and howl as much as they wanted ... thinking they would eventually get tired and they would realize the tree cutting equipment was not going to bother them. Besides the chainsaws were loud to drown out the barks.

It worked. It wasn't long before they stopped and only sat there at the fence and watched the big job going on the opposite side of the neighbor's house. It was interesting to watch the man in the bucket move around tree limbs as he cut them, getting higher and higher, to the top of two different pine trees that had died.

With the "supervisors" calmed down, they could now enjoy the above average temps for the rest of the day ... the high on Monday was suppose to be 81° in late October. I loved it.

Of course Walter was more than happy to watch them from the door. He would eventually go outside but he would rather follow me everywhere I go.

I took a short bike ride up the street to see my old friend. A day or two a week I'll ride my bike up and around the corner for some coffee and story telling. We don't discuss world events, nothing about news ... just the latest in our lives. I told him he needed to come down and watch the tree cutting excitement. He did but before we arrived back at the house, he, his wife and I had decided that we would have lunch at the "hole in the wall" Chinese food restaurant I have found last week. Not really a restaurant because it only had 4 tables inside. But really good food and only a 5 minute drive from the house.

When we came back from lunch, as I approached the house I see that machine with the bucket is up inside the oak tree near my property line. The hounds and the dog had been outside while I was gone. Evidently they were either scared of something that loud being close to them or had lost interest ... Watson was over by the shed behind the garage laying in the grass and Henry and Walter were just inside the patio door sleeping.

I had mixed emotions about having that tree cut down. It is a great looking tree, healthy and like I said, provides shade to my backyard. I don't mind the leaves I have to mow or rake from that tree. Of course I had to go outside to get a better view after I led the hounds and dog back inside, shutting the patio door. The cutter was good as everything dropped into her yard and not on my fence.

My neighbor told me she decided to keep the tree but was just having it trimmed where the two limbs heading towards my house and she had some low hanging limbs over her house. Again he moved his bucket up through and around the healthy limbs as he cut off the dead ones or smaller weak ones. 

While he cut I was picking up as many if not all of the small twigs that had fallen in the yard. Watson likes to chew on sticks large or small when he gets the rare chance. With his emergency intestinal surgery last year I am not taking any more chances with a sharp piece of wood causing him more problems.

When it was all finished I thought the tree looked pretty good. It wasn't cut back like some people do and at the same time there were no hanging limbs over her roof and heading towards my roof. Plus there is enough tree left that I will still have shade on that side of the yard.

With the great October weather, it was nice to end the afternoon sitting out on the patio enjoying the great weather.

When the house is quiet in the morning something is usually up. The hounds get into things but most of the time they will be outside exploring their yard, identifying all the animals that have been in the yard during the night. This morning Henry was just enjoying the breeze. Rain is on the way today and we will have a chance for an inch of rain starting at noon.

The leaves finally changed colors but the bright vibrant colors didn't last long.

By this afternoon I will likely see some areas of this yard that have standing water. That will tell me where I will need to haul more top soil to make those low spots higher. I am told it works by someone that had the same problem in their yard but it does take years, and is not a quick fix.

While the hounds were outside enjoying the morning, Walter was in his normal early morning spot snoring loudly as he took his morning nap.

It is a photo like this that kicks me in my gut and makes me feel tons of regret for moving. It makes me question if I really did make the right decision in May 2021 to move back to Indiana due to all the changes going on in the Sierra Vista area. This is not my photo but one a friend took on his ride last weekend. At this point on St Andrews I would have been a couple of miles from home and by the end of this road where it would "T" I would have finished 4 miles and felt warmed up to ride another 20-25 miles. 

I have mentioned before the effect seeing these mountains every day meant to me mentally. They turned down days into good days real quick. Most of the time they prevented me from having any down days. They pulled me outside almost every day to ride my bike or take a hike and some days I did both.

They are what makes me think of moving back to the Sierra Vista area. THAT is how much I miss seeing mountains in ever direction. Yet with all the houses for sale in that area, it is hard to find one that has the same view from the patio that my house had. Plus houses that same age are even quite more than what I sold mine for in May 2021.

That sudden burst to move back then is jolted back to reality when I saw these photos and read comments from residents on the Facebook page Hereford Neighborhood Watch. These photos were sent to that page by residents in the Hereford area. One resident in particular was asking for more volunteers to help them pick up the trash like this on a daily basis. Once the illegals get their ride to Phoenix, they drop everything they have and take off. South of Sierra Vista is where I rode my bike. 

These photos were only a few of all of those uploaded. I know they are hard to believe but these are in the Hereford AZ area. Other photos were taken just like this on personal property where people live on 4-15 acre plots of land. I am not sure if the "camps" the Border Patrol found last year near Three Canyons Road are still there but it sure does look like it. At that time in 2021 they estimated 25-30 illegals moving through that one camp every 2-3 days.

Some of these trash dumps are near the campgrounds up in Carr Canyon, Miller Canyon and in the Montezuma Pass area. So photos like that, then the comments I read that I will not post here, give me pause about even thinking of moving from a neighborhood I now live in. I nicked named this neighborhood "Pleasantville" after the 1998 movie. Sure I can hike and bike ride here. I checked out all the possibilities BEFORE I decided to buy this house. It is up to me whether to do that ... but it was those mountains that were a factor, energizing me.

Back "up north" where I use to live before moving in May 2019, the local landscaping business had an offer .... 1 can of food = 1 free mum. They wanted to build up the food pantry for those needing food. Then they expanded it with not only packaged food but clothing, coats, socks, blankets, anything that could help those in need ... 1 item equaled 1 free mum. I lived past that white garage, up on the hill for over 20 years.

Glancing through a Facebook page named Pendleton Historical Museum I saw a photo on that wall of teams, the football team photo. I was a junior in high school and played Quarterback for that team in 1968. It was the last year for that high school as we consolidated with our rival Markleville the following year. Thus the purple and white M sweater on top of the cabinet. The school name changed to Pendleton Heights in 1969.

It is hard to believe that November is right around the corner. El Niño will have my area seeing normal winter temps with a slight increase in precipitation. Whether that is snow or rain I am thinking rain is more likely. All I need to do before then is cut back the hydrangeas that I would rather pull out of the ground. I was told last year by a landscaper that came out to look at some things I wanted done, their root system is so large that I might be causing more problems than I want by pulling them out.

I am hearing rain drops on my window at 9:10am ... I guess the rain has decided to get started a few hours early. The yard needs the rain so I am happy to see it arrive. 

Back to the hydrangeas. I have plans to take out a lot of plants and flowers the previous owners planted and moving them either to different parts of the yard or plant those that I don't want at the base of the berm outside the fence in back. Day lily's for one are going back there. The pink rose bush in front is being moved somewhere else. Nobody wants it when I offered to give it away. Most of these moves will be done next March. 

Well the hounds must have sensed the rain was going to start earlier than the forecast said. This is where I found them. Plus they know that winter is around the corner with a short fall. Their winter routine is sleeping on the bed instead of their spots on the floor.

Walter doesn't care about the sounds of rain, he just changed his position and continued to snore. Some might ask why is the food bowl there? Last year when Watson arrived as a food possessed puppy, he would steal the food from Walter and Henry plus eat his own. He would be frantic moving from bowl to bowl going crazy. So to prevent that I moved Henry's bowl to the bedroom and Walters bowl to the computer room. Now they will not eat anywhere else and will sit in each room when it's time to eat waiting for their bowls to be delivered.

It looks like my book reading will start earlier than planned today. It's going to be a rainy day here in 'the tropics' of southern Indiana.