The Hounds Check Out The Snow

For once the weatherman was right last night. It rained a lot over night and by the time we hit the field for the first walk of the day, water was coming up the sides of my hiking boots with each step, plus it was freezing cold. Snow showers were suppose to start about the time we went outside.

While the hounds split up and went different directions I was hearing water going down the gutter downspout but saw no rain of any kind on my sleeve. Some of the path I take had standing water but Sadie had to get her walk in.

It was borderline freezing with a windchill in the 20's. I was now seeing small balls of snow hit my parka sleeve but couldn't hear it. Sadie marched through the high grass with water trails behind each of her paws ... this was going to be very wet walk.

I left Stella where she wanted to be. That was not far from the house, out in the middle of the field between my house and the neighbors. Sadie had ran and disappeared around the first turn and I could hear a snow/rain mixture hitting the shoulders of my parka. Too late to turn around and if nothing else, I had to go get Sadie.

By the time I caught up with her she was almost to the far right corner of the field. I had dressed for freezing temps but my face was telling me just how cold it really was. The sleet was starting to come down a little harder.

It was darker than this photo shows but you can tell it's a dreary day but maybe not how cold it is.

That did not matter to Sadie ... she had a lot of ground to cover yet as I kept telling her we had to go home.

You can barely see the sleet coming down with against the background of the trees.  As it hit me in my face I increased my walking pace with Sadie trotting right beside me. Stella was no where in view from what I could see.

About the same time Sadie and I caught the alternate path home, I saw Stella over to the left of me and it didn't look like she had moved from the place I last saw her while we began our walk.

She wasn't happy about it but decided to trot toward the house as Sadie and I ran to the house. It was more rain than snow at this time.

It's hard to tell from this photo, as you can see the sleet ... a little after 9am, just like they forecasted. I poured another cup of coffee once inside and sat at the kitchen table watching the weather. A pot of chili was started right before we went on our walk.

About an hour and a half later it started snowing hard with huge flakes of snow. Based on what I heard on tv last night, this would not amount to much more than a 1/4 inch where we are. Once again, north of I-70 would be getting 1"-3" accumulation, which is 75 miles north of us.

With the temps dropping, it started to stick. It kept coming down harder and I was beginning to wonder if the weatherman was just a little off in his prediction from last night.

With the snow sticking I wanted to take the hounds outside to check it out before they had lunch. Normally the snow will energize them into playing or running around the backyard but not today.  Even Stella wasn't sure that she wanted to go any further than the carport.

Stella was more interested in frozen natural protein laying around, while Sadie acted as if she wanted to go back inside and continue her late morning nap, and wondering why Stella didn't follow her.

Once Stella heard me say "do you want to eat" ... she didn't hesitate trotting to the house for some lunch.

I didn't think Heidi would stay out too long with the weather the way it was. She went to the door after her lunch to go outside but once she stepped off the carport she wasn't sure where her perfect spot was to relieve herself. It was already too cold for me, so I stepped back inside and waited for her.

To my surprise she took off around the front of the house to do a lap around the house while staying underneath the overhang. It wasn't longer than 5 minutes after she stepped outside that the snow stopped. It went from snowing hard with large flakes to nothing ... just like that.

By the time she walked around the FJ heading toward the door where I was waiting for her ... the snow had melted leaving no evidence that it had even snowed today. They were all happy to get back inside. Stella picked up her bone to chew on ... Heidi jumped back up on her sleeping bag for her long afternoon siesta and Sadie fell asleep guarding her water bowl.

With it getting colder we don't have anymore plans for being outside today except when they want to go outside to pee. I started my 'movie marathon' last night and have a stack of DVDs from my movie shelf that I want to watch. I may or may not fit in a couple of NFL games today. Playing a game outside in Green Bay, Wisconsin later tonight could be an interesting game to watch on tv.

Perfect weather for the pot of chili that has been cooking in the crockpot since this morning

First snow of this winter, here in 'the tropics' of Southern Indiana.

A Rough And Humorous Start Today

It's trying it's best to snow as forecasted but without much success. Here in 'the tropics' we are in kind of a 'pocket' where storms follow the I-70 corridor north of us and the Ohio River south of us. Radar may show we are about to get blasted with snow storms, thunderstorms or even tornadoes but they always seem to split at the Indiana /Illinois state line and follow those two routes or move around us within miles.

I haven't been up 2 hours yet and already there seems to be a feel that something is off today. Years ago when the fad of biorhythms were telling the us why we felt the way we do, it would be what they called "a critical" day for me today ... I just call it being grumpy and it's always caused by too much sleep. I work well with 3-4 hours of sleep but I am hard to live with when I get 7 or more hours of sleep.

Today I can feel I am hard to live with.

Yet, it might not have been too much sleep that started this 'off day' ... it could have been when Sadie was sprinting for the door as I let them out for the first time of the day within minutes of waking up. She ran into the back of my left knee causing me to fall and stumble as I caught myself before hitting the floor or running into the door head first ... that should give you a good idea.  LOL

Or it could have been 5 minutes later, where the same hound is so excited about her breakfast, as usual, and tips over a 3qt bowl of water when her paw came down on the edge of the bowl as she was hopping up and down. Nothing worse than having unexpected water everywhere within 10 minutes after you wake up. I swear I watched that water move in slow motion as it hit me and almost the ceiling.

Needless to say, I needed a walk to 'cool off' because one cup of coffee had done nothing to change my outlook on life this morning. The weather apps said it was cold, it felt warm. It was suppose to snow but hadn't really. I could see that both hounds had their own agendas so they were going to get total freedom ... plus less chance of a 100# hound running full speed into me ... I had a feeling today wasn't meant to be my day, after my rough start.

I had no doubt that by the time I got back to this part of the walk on the return trip that I would be asking Sadie to help me find Stella. I was sure she would be out of sight by the time I got back. But once again she could do what she wanted today. I was in no mood for a 100 verbal commands to get her to move.

I could hear it but I couldn't see it. Even the camera couldn't see it. I could actually hear very small balls of snow hitting my jacket with my wool ski cap over my ears. When I glanced at my dark blue parka sleeve, it showed me I wasn't going insane today after all. It's always good to know that you haven't fallen over the edge of insanity ... but for some reason I could still feel water from Sadie's water bowl somewhere on me.

As usual she was oblivious to all that had happened this morning. If had not been in her way, she wouldn't have hit me in the back of the knee. If I would have moved the water bowl 6" away, she would not have hit the edge of it with her paws, sending her water out in slow motion as high as the ceiling.

So all was good to her ... she is outside on her walk and she is tracking scent. Nothing else matters.

I turned to make one final look to see where Stella was as my camera lens, set at 200mm, picked her up walking INTO the wooded area ... I was certain she was going to disappear.

By now I am seeing snow flurries, and taking photos with it in the background in my view finder but not showing up on the photos. I could also see a little of it starting to stick to Sadie's coat.

I don't mind cold temps as long as there is no wind. That makes a world of difference in how warm you feel. A little snow but nothing major.

I can always tell when Sadie is really focused tracking scent because I can hear her jowls flapping with a noise that is hard to describe and one that only bloodhound owners can recognize.

I would love to have an drone flying around this field taking photos 24/7 just to see the animal activity when we are not on our walks.

It was hard to get Sadie to leave but I told her "go find Stella" ... she took off running in the direction of the house with her nose to the ground.

I just assumed that we would be going into the woods to look for Stella, so I was walking along the edge of the field and woods to the left of our path as we start our walk. But Sadie was running toward the middle of the field away from me. Then I saw the reason why ... there was Stella, out toward the middle of the field and right next to the alternate path we take walking back home.

Here is proof of what I was hearing hit my jacket. Not a bad closeup photo with a Nikon camera set at 18mm.

Stella was sure she could hear the snow drops too.

Sadie stopped trotting in the yard to listen for them too.

I thought they were getting ready to run and chest bump each other to start wrestling, but for some reason they both decided instead of continuing their path to the corner of the house and then going inside ... all of that small snow they 'hear' my be caused by the lawn moles that have been having a field day in warm weather, tearing up my backyard.

There is something about snow, in any amounts that make these two crazy. They will wrestle at times outside if it is snowing but since there wasn't enough, they decided to wrestle inside .... "that will make him more insane".

I forgot to mention that as I walked up to Stella in the field, we started walking back toward the house .... she ran from behind me, cutting me off right in front of me and then slowed or stopped in front of me where once again I am about to fall and stumbled enough to regain my balance.

See what I mean about the moon and stars not lined up properly for me today? Of course all of this might be caused by my brain knowing it will not be fed it's normal 14 hours of college football today for the first time since the first weekend in September.

No matter what, it will be another great day here in 'the tropics' of Southern Indiana ... this retirement gig is a great thing.

First Snow Of This Winter

It wasn't much snow but the experts were right with their forecast of <1". We have been up about 4 hours and the temp has not moved from 19° and the snow has not gotten deeper.

Our first trip out this morning there were big flakes gently dropping from the sky ... it wasn't a blizzard by any means. Stella was pretty hesitant about getting out into the snow. She started, then stopped. I am pretty sure she didn't pee this morning during her first trip out as I poured breakfast kibble. Sadie and Heidi always do but Stella is always more interested in eating food than anything else.

Of coarse Sadie was out and down over the ditch before I could tell her to stop. That is a place she is not allowed to go but has gone to dump her tanks lately. Stella on the other hand was remembering just how nice that warm bed felt ... she didn't get any farther than this.

Sadie wanted to stay outside more and play but I needed coffee after my late night/early morning book reading marathon last night. I had to force myself to put the book down and go to sleep, sometime a little after 2am.

It may have snowed a little through the night but nothing that was record breaking amounts. At times it pays to live in 'the tropics' when storms are involved.

With two cups of Seattle's Best Coffee moving all my blood cells around, plus Sadie having a severe case of "I want to go outside NOW" ... I decided that a "half" walk might work to bust that ball of energy she has had since the time she opened her eyes this morning.

Both hounds shot through the door to go outside and it was instant wrestling. Even a little bit of snow seems to energize them. As it did last winter.

Sadie wanted to make sure of the depth of snow before she would be attacked by Stella. As I have mentioned before, when outside Stella is the aggressor, when inside Sadie is the one that has Stella down on her back.

It's always good to see and hear that this is all in fun and doesn't lead to a dog fight.

Sadie making a move to win in the end.

Once my feet hit the field, they both sprinted around me and headed out. They didn't know that I had planned, due to the freezing temps and snow, to only do a half of a walk. They started running and didn't stop.

As fast as they took off and kept going I was sure they had found strong deer scents and my plan of a half of a walk may not happen. I wasn't sure they were going to stop and I was already pretty far behind them. This next pictures is with a 200mm zoom setting.

Stella stopped and almost headed to the left wooded area. She stood like a statue facing that direction so I started walking faster and looking toward that area in case any deer would jump out of the woods and take off. I was sure she had either heard or smelled deer staring back at her.

Once again I yelled their new keyword "hey" and they both turned their attention away from the left wooded area and started around our first turn.

I wasn't able to keep up with them today. Most of the time I wasn't sure they were going to stop but with 19° and a frozen snow, I did not want them staying outside very long. It wasn't feeling colder than yesterday but the digits were lower.

Right before they got to the turn of the far right corner, I make a left myself way short of the normal path and head back across the field to our return path, telling them "lets go home". They turned and followed me for a short time before moving out in front of me.

Sprinting again ... I wonder if feeling that cold snow on their paws makes them run like this, if they even feel it.

Sadie curled her sprint around and headed back to me. She rammed her nose/head into my knee to let me know I needed to walk a little faster, then turned and sprinted toward Stella. She has been nothing more than huge ball of energy since she got outside.

There was one last scent she had to check out before she turned for the house. Stella was already enthused about the "milk bone" words I has yelled. I don't feed them that brand name of bones but it's my words for their treats. They are not passed out a lot but they know what they are and where they are.

I am reading my 2nd book this week and it is just as good as the first book I picked up from the library this week. I read Bryan Cranston's new book in a 24 hour period. The current book is older but one I missed somehow when it came out. It has smaller print but a fast read as I started late but still had 100 pages read by the time I put it down.

I thought about doing a test run with the Mini Countryman today and find out how it handles a little snow while going up my driveway. Yet, after seeing that snow plows making a few trips up and down the highway spraying their salt/sand/chemicals mixture to clear the roads I decided the Mini would stay parked where it was. The highway is now clear and slushy with the melted ice and snow.

Temps in the 40's and rain are only four days away. I have the cabinets and fridge stocked with enough food to where I don't need to go anywhere if I don't want to during this kind of weather.

I didn't get any pictures scanned yesterday because I couldn't stop reading the book. I almost read through dinner time until I realized I had not had anything to eat since a bowl of oatmeal at breakfast.

Well the 'half walk' worked for Sadie. She has finally stretched out for a nap on the floor until lunch time. Stella just walked into the computer room to let me know it's 11:28am and that's close enough for her lunchtime kibble. She is currently sitting like an end table, with her eyes closed and head bowed ... it's her way of telling me that she is starving and hopefully I will feel sorry for her, enough to feed her.

It's a look she does many times ... when she wants fed or when she wants Sadie or Heidi to move off her spot on the couch. She never moves from that pose until she gets what she wants.

Nothing is planned for the rest of the day besides reading the rest of the book and possibly starting a new one. If I had not looked in the upper right corner of my monitor to see "Thur 11:31 AM", I would have had no idea what day it was.

Five days into January and it's been a very mild and warm winter so far in 'the tropics' of southern Indiana.