Single Digit Temps Freeze The Hounds

I had failed to remember that starting Sunday night, the arctic winds would start blowing my direction and drop the overnight temperatures to single digits. I knew as soon as I opened my eyes and stepped outside the warm bedroom that something was different. I had turned the heat down in the living room like I do every night and with it being 5° outside it was just a tad below 60° inside. It was colder when I opened the door to let the hounds outside to start our day.

I tried explaining to Stella the morning walk was cancelled, no discussion would be allowed. I didn't see any reason to walk in single digit temps with the wind chill being -6°and a 10-15mph wind. Finally by 9:46am she had enough and needed to go back outside to do her thing. She started hydrating at her water bowl to let me know she was going outside.

Doesn't it look like the "Frozen Tundra" ???

It was so cold it took my breath away the first time I inhaled and as Stella started to walk she found it pretty hard to make the turn and hesitated.

At least she started moving in the right direction. I was hoping that she would go out in the field, dump her tanks and get back inside as fast as possible instead of wandering off down the path as if we were walking. I stepped behind the house to get out of the freezing wind that was blowing.

Even in 6° weather it's always good to stretch.

As she proceeded out to the field another thought occurred to me. I might have to walk out to pick her up and carry her back to the house if that icy frozen snow either froze her paws or got between her toes. If that were to happen, she would raise the affected paw up in the air and try to limp back home. 87 pounds was going to be a lot of weight to carry in icy conditions.

She had already peed but was looking for that special spot that dogs always do. She did a couple of figure eights and then ... decided the spot she was looking for was not out there.

She slowly took the path back to the house.

After making a right hand turn just before leaving the field, she did what she had to do in the field and then headed to the house without one word from me. For that type of reaction from her, she had to have known just how cold it was.

I could hear the snow 'crunching' as she walked. That is a sure sign it's damn cold !!!

Last night was 'movie night' ... while I watched A Dog's Purpose, Heidi was sleeping sitting up, keeping warm with Stella.

Yes ... she is sleeping, not just being caught between blinking her eyes. She was probably really exhausted after all of her exploration in the snow on Sunday afternooon.  :)

Stella was out for the night. She never moved even after I got up, turned the lights off and headed to bed.

Some have asked about the dark mode I spoke of the other day. The best example is the smaller screen in the upper left having the black/dark gray background. It is like that on my emails, and any dropdown menu. It really is easier on the eyes if you spend too many hours on the computer like I do. That is the desktop screen on my stand alone monitor.

I thought this Apple desktop photo was appropriate for a 'dark mode' ... Spring is on the way after these freezing temps leave by the end of the week.

Anyone else having problems with Firefox crashing unexpectedly this past week? It seems to be a regular occurrence for me lately. I tried that browser again last night and after the second time it crashed I changed browsers. I moved to Safari this time. It's been very fast this morning, automatically stops videos from autoplaying on news or sports websites without an add-on. I still have to use AdBlock Plus to block advertisements. With that add-on I get ZERO advertisements anywhere I go online.

Tom was complaining about this blog using cookies last night. I can't control that from my end. For those that don't know, you are the only one that control what or how cookies are used by changing your security settings inside of the browser you are using on YOUR computer.

The new banner at the bottom of my blog about WordPress using cookies set him off.
I personally added that banner to my widgets yesterday due to the amount of traffic I get from the EU countries and by law, that banner is required for visitors from EU countries. So I am just following protocol and using the EU banner provided by WordPress. I am being told I do not need this banner so in the meantime until I can confirm one way or another, I have deleted the banner.

We all have our own opinions about immigration into our country, whether it be legal or illegal. This article has the best ideas I have read anywhere. Too bad they are not in politics and could present their ideas. It's a good read for those interested.

If anyone thinks what Trump is doing or trying to do is something new .... this link will show it also happened in the Obama Administration. Scroll down to see it if you don't want to read the whole article.

It wouldn't make a difference if the blog author was in Congress ... there are enough politicians in both parties that don't  want any changes to immigration and want as many ILLEGAL immigrants as possible ... both Democrats and Republicans.

There are many steps in the process to impeach a president. Let's just say that last step would approve the recommendation for impeachment even after the next election, years from now. Do the democrats and some republicans really want Mike Pence as the next president? Think about that.

With the weather as cold as it is, I see no other option than a normal day here in 'the tropics' with a lot of book reading, many games of Mahjong on the MacBook Air on the kitchen table. While playing that game I glance out to the highway between games and am still amazed at the number of drivers I see drving the Toyota RAV4 ... on this US Highway in front of my house, that vehicle is a hands down winner of choice by a landslide.

As far as pickup trucks ... from my view, it looks like a tight race between the Dodge Ram and the Chevy Silverado pickup trucks, old or new models.

I saw in the Seattle Times this morning, a newspaper I read on a daily basis ... having a picture and an article about a new kind of ice cream you can eat late at night that helps you to fall asleep. How nice would that be? Would it be as good as Ben&Jerry's Ice Cream?

At least the sunshine is out and is bright today.

Up to 9° at 10:44am here in 'the tropics' of Southern Indiana.

It's A Warm -5 At 8am

First of all I am only speaking from my location here in 'the tropics' of Southern Indiana. I don't have it that bad at all. I have electric power, a fast internet, a warm house and the sun is out. There are many many many other people a lot worse off than the hounds and I. So a -5° at 8am is not a bad deal. I have lived through a lot worse in this house, today's weather is nothing. 

You would have never thought it would be so cold yesterday when the hounds stepped outside after their late lunch but the wind was freezing cold, the wind chill temp was colder than it was when Stella and I took our walk, so the afternoon walk was canceled.

Even Heidi wasn't sure she was going to jump off the edge into the mulch, her favorite place to pee in the winter's cold weather.

Stella was more interested in getting back inside for more sleep ... like sleeping the afternoon away. She had no idea why she had followed Heidi outside on Tuesday afternoon.

After a Tuesday afternoon of doing nothing, we tried it again a little after 5pm. Would a walk be possible? Stella did some pre-aerobic stretching but I already knew with the howling wind and the freezing cold, that I wasn't going anywhere. I'd watch her as she moved to the backyard to relieve herself just to make sure she was heading back toward the house when finished instead of wandering out into the field.

It funny how she has to find that 'perfect spot' to pee but she does, even when it's freezing.

This morning was a different story thought. I woke up once around 5am and heard wind that was so loud I thought we were in the middle of a Spring thunderstorm or a tornado. I wondered how many tree limbs would be in my yard after last night. I even remembered the tv shows I watched last winter about the research teams living in tents in Antarctica. I glanced at my watch to see it was -2°, I went back to sleep.

No matter how cold it gets, the hounds still need to relieve themselves especially after a night of sleep. It was the normal routine with me letting them out at 7am in subzero temps but I was going to make an effort to pour their kibble a little faster today.

About the time I got to the door to let them back inside, Stella was sprinting from the backyard or field, around the Mini Cooper to the door. Heidi was not around !!!! So I stepped outside and looked to see her in the middle of the front yard just finishing her yard care and then sprinting up the driveway all the way to the door

By the time 8am rolled around, both hounds were back to sleep and the temp had dropped to -5°. Obviously both walks today will be canceled. Trips outside this afternoon will be limited to less than a minute or two and it will be a normal day inside the warm house.

At least the sun is not giving up on a day like today. There's no worries though ... it will be Spring like temperatures by Friday !!!

How's that for a little variety of winter weather ???

Even with the warm house yesterday, Heidi knew it was cold outside and demanded I go get 'her' sleeping bag from the bedroom to put on her while she slept on the couch. How did she demand that to happen? She sat there staring at me shivering as if she was cold. Once the sleeping bag was on the couch, she burrowed her way under it and around it for the perfect position to sleep.

Every winter when the weather stations go into over-drive with too much DRAMA about what is going to happen, I tune them out. I know they have to sell viewership but please give me a break. The world is not coming to an end. IT'S WINTER !!!!! It happens every year and has for as long as I can remember!!! Sorry, I'm not jumping on the 'panic wagon' based on the tone of voices from the local weather channels, or national ones either.

The past few winters I would 'chase' the temps by adjusting my thermostats, plus it was my way of saving energy. In this 45+ year old house each room has baseboard electric heat and its own thermostat. I'd turn it completely off when we slept and then back on for an hour or two to take the edge off.

This year I decided I wasn't doing that. In November when it was getting cold, I set every room thermostat to where the house stayed at 65°-68°. I'd let the heaters decide when they needed to cool down. The times the house is too hot I will turn the thermostats down or off for an hour or two. I can't stand a hot house.

My "electric usage' spreadsheet shows I have used less kilowatts than last winter but last winter was brutal with these sub-zero temps day after day and over 30 days in a row being below 32°. Still it is costing me less this year to keep the house warm instead of trying to save energy. (electricity)

With no plans to get out today, I will wait until tomorrow to start my car. I also will probably do nothing different from yesterday. It's interesting how schools are closed, college classes are cancelled, business are closed during the Polar Vortex .... but tonight the college basketball games on tv continue. No games will be canceled anywhere in the Midwest or the Eastern part of the states.

It was that way when I was growing up in the 60's. I remember more than a few times where school was closed for days from too much snow but people always found ways of filling the gym seats when a game was played on Friday and/or Saturday nights. Nothing has changed in that regard.

I'll try to get more photos later today as the hounds and I go outside. It is supposed to get up to 6° and that will be warm enough for short breaks outside. For them, not me. :)

It's sunny this morning in 'the tropics' of Southern Indiana.