Hounds Dog & I Survive New Year's

I got the new wireless Harman Kardon speaker to work, but not through the tv. I used an app on my phone to listen to a ballgame the other night and used the speaker paired with the phone. Works very well. Since the hounds and dog are out of the puppy chewing stage I am going to replace my coffee table and end table where they (I think Walter) chewed the corners bad enough I am not sure I personally can repair them. As you will see, we didn't do much on New Year's Eve but we were up past midnight this year ... I didn't say awake, just up.

To do that I had to binge watch a show on Amazon Prime called Outer Range. By the end of the last episode the following morning I wished I had not wasted my time watching it. Henry wasn't that impressed with the plot either and slept all the way through it.

Without a New Year's Eve college football game this year, Walter decided to nap so he would be up and awake at midnight. He actually made it outside with me in 32° weather while I smoked my celebration cigar.

This hound never sleeps.

But he does sleep ... a lot.

Ive been doing a lot of reading lately. I did watch both CFB Playoff games on the 1st but not much else. One of the local high school bands were in the Rose Bowl Parade in Pasadena CA and the new Mayor spoke publicly as the Mayor for the first time. That was the excitement for the city I guess. 

One thing about Watson, it might look like all he does is sleep but he spends most of his time outside tracking and baying at squirrels during the day, exploring every inch of his yard and nose to the ground with some naps inside around his meal time. That has been his love seat since Day 1 though.

At 11:55pm Central Time New Year's Eve, I stepped out on the patio and lite my cigar. The lights in these photos were brighter than it actually was standing in the dark. I wonder how old that oak tree is?

While I stood in my down jacket to keep warm, the hounds and dog came out to wander around in 32° weather. Again, brighter than it actually was.

We made it through December without any extreme weather or sub-freezing temps during the day. As predicted it feels like it will be a warmer than normal winter.

I thought about it long and hard and finally surprised my self this past Tuesday. I started a new Facebook account. It is a little different than the blog and for different reasons. As much as I hate Facebook and its owner, it is still a great way to keep in touch with old friends, some of my sports teams and using the Marketplace to sell some things locally.

Last February I deleted my account and 31 days later Facebook deleted it permanently so I started a new account. There are different audiences/readers than here so I post different stuff and some photos are duplicates with the blog. 

The thing is not everyone followed me to the blog from Facebook, many did not want to text me even after having my phone number ... but they did Facebook. I found out from three or four people after we added each other as friends this week, when I disappeared last February they thought something bad had happened to me. At our age that is a nicer way of saying it. So they were happy to see that I still had a pulse.

Even my sister and nephew would not come to the blog for updates about me but they do that with Facebook. I've had many tell me they would love to get off Facebook but stay for the same reasons I came back ... to stay in touch with friends and family.

It was the only way I could keep update with Henry's breeder Out West Bassets. 

I've been doing a lot of reading, and no brain cell scrambling about houses or cars for the first time in a very long time. Not even when my friend out in Phoenix is telling me she is looking at Tacomas and 4Runners ... didn't have an urge to even look. I am settled with what I have.

I am not counting days ... but I am looking forward to the spring and summer. It feels like we have turned the corner once we got into January. Unlike some years I have had no problems writing or typing "2024" for the year.

I hope to get out here soon with camera in hand to take some local exploring or hiking photos.

Great weather here in "the tropics" of Southern Indiana.