Roaming Brain Cells

Watson and I have had wondering thoughts today. There might be some old fashion rambling in this post today. I haven't done that in a while. It might be caused by "my spring" vanishing with a snap of my fingers or is it the cool temps today? The next 10 days looking like highs in the 60's when I am wanting those mid to high 70's back that I experienced before the rains and the cold front. Yet I shouldn't be complaining about the weather nor anything else. Reading about various online friends and their health issues pulls me back from any thoughts about complaining, especially something so minor as high temperatures. I am thankful for my good health.

The Mind Is Restless

You would think after 10 months, give or take a few weeks, I would finally feel like this is home since my move last May. Honestly it has not. I remember before June 2019, when I would pull into the driveway of the small rural house I lived in with the hounds, it would feel like I was home. That is one reason I did not move for 22 years when I could have any time. I'll warn you, there will be some rambling in between the photos today. In the meantime it was a beautiful day here yesterday, temps reaching 75°, and my head and face showing a little sunburn this morning.

Hounds & Dog Move Into Fall

Unless I look at my date and time in the upper right screen of my iMac I sometimes forget what month it is. I have the time but no calendar, or date on my Apple Watch faces for either watch. The weather has been fantastic though as we have settled into our move that took place five months ago. The temps are dropping but are about the same ranges as Sierra Vista AZ ... the only difference or a few differences, is the intensity of the sun and the view of those Huachuca Mountains. The hounds and the dog love the patio here though and spend as much time outside as possible. With the patio door open most of the time, they can come and go as they please. Believe it or not in that photo, Watson is a week past five months old.

Times Are Changing

Since our last post a lot of things are changing, here and nationwide. Obviously the blog theme or template has changed, the puppies are changing by getting bigger and possibly easier to live with. Henry is really giving me a run for my money ... funny funny basset hound and very mischievous. Walter has passed the 1 year mark and still considers himself the leader of the pack. Here are a few other things that have changed since I last posted -- gas prices, cost of groceries, warnings on where I can ride or hike, number of cars, different kind of cars, unbelievable decisions in DC, new residents, new houses, hot hot hot real estate market, and a lot of thinking.

A Good But Busy Week

 

You can't tell by Walter's photo but the temps have droppd a little the past week but it's pretty hot and a little muggy by late afternoon when the sun is out of view and we all head out to the patio. This past week was really busy with some things going on in the background. It was still a good week. Positive COVID cases in this town have dropped to 39 as of yesterday after a high of 81 just a month or so ago. I keep forgetting my mask when I go out but do have one in each vehicle.

The new Blogger has decided to act weird today by the way it loaded the images, where everything is left align. Then it will not move the image to center when I click on the icon after highlighting the image. Makes it harder, longer and more frustrating to blog. Heidi is looking better than ever. A very soft healthy coat and a little more energy since her surgery a month ago. She has gone on our daily walks but even though we take them early in the morning we have had to shorten them due to the heat. The tongues of Heidi and Stella determine how far the walk is ... plus their pace.

Stella has decided this summer it's better to sleep inside with the AC on than outside after digging the stones away to get down to the cooler Arizona dirt. Sleeping is her majory activity anymore when she is able to. Walter keeps her pretty busy playing of most of the time defending herself from his tactics.  He keeps her with the workout program.

Still beautiful to wake up to. We are up at the crack of dawn and by the time the hounds are finished eating, their food bowls cleaned and my coffee is made ... the skies have lit up for another day. 

By late afternoon it is getting ready for a short rain somewhere. Maybe here maybe not but it looks like Bisbee was getting this afternoon showers a few days ago. The monsoons are getting rid of the deficit we had in total rain this year. 

By about 5pm or so the hounds are out for the night while I watch the Red's baseball games on tv. By the sounds of Walter's snoring and how deep Heidi and Stella sleep you would think they have been running around all day. Nothing out of the ordinary routine for them. Heidi sleeps back on her bed in the dark bedroom but will come out for water and trips outside on her own. These two sleep right there until the middle of the night where they venture into the bedroom while I am sleeping.

The cool tile is always a relief for them after a session of wrestling some running and a lot of chewing on each other. 

Friday I introduced my '64 VW Panel van to The Diner. I had my usual order but the cup of hot chili seemed hotter than ever. I did notice a few more cut up jalipanoes in there. I fought off the urge for a siesta late afternoon but it was tough and just one job of a retiree. They continue to sit people every other booth or table but the place is nowhere near as full as it use to be any time of day or night. It use to be packed anytime I went there to eat, not anymore.

The other morning I saw this as she mentioned something about breakfast or maybe they saw her making breakfast. That are all eating the mush of kibble and water similar to a smoothie. She said last night that all ten puppies are going out the doggie door on their own and very few mistakes in their sleeping area. In this case he will follow the other hounds and I down the hallway, around the corner and outside when they wake up or with me when he wakes me up in the middle of the night to go out. Walter did not do that and has slept through the night since the first day I brought him home. My pup is in the center of the photo with his nose pointing toward the food.

That is a huge litter is bigger than normal. I've never heard of a basset hound litter having 10 puppies. My pup is in the "10 o'clock" position on the circle of pups. There are a lot of pretty puppies there. A lot of the black color will change to brown like Heidi and the mahoganies will lighten up in color.

Last night I heard my email notification and saw that I had recieved the weekly update of all 10 pups. She takes three photos each. Who would ever think this pup is at the front of everything and in a video just last week was seen trying to chew the leg off of his sister. He was shaking his head trying to tear off the leg. He might give Walter a run for his money when they start playing, yet Walter is much bigger being 5 months older by the time this one walks in the house.

I have explained in recent post why I am buying him now and not later. This will be my 3rd time in 33 years that I have had a combination of 4 hounds. I'm counting Walter as a hound although he isn't by breed but his nose is just as active smashed up against his face. Four is a bit much but I am planning for the future so to speak.

As you'll see nothing was much different Sunday, morning nor afternoon while I was on the computer.

That sure does look like a tongue sticking out over there. Or maybe it's in the normal position but his nose/mouth is too short.  :)

Probably his favorite of his sleeping positions.

A rope bone always makes a good pillow.

He likes cottage cheese but it's not too much fun when  you have to chase the bowl to do it.

She had what was left of the cottage cheese first, then the bowl was given to Walter. Heidi ??? Sleeping in back.

Another successful week here in the "Wild West".

The Brain Scramble Continues

With this much water left this morning from the overflowing creek across the highway I wonder where all of the water will go after it starts raining at 2pm, for the next week. I know where it will go since I've seen it a lot worse in June 2008. At that time three of the four highways coming into town were closed due to flooding. Up here on the hill we were sitting on the only open way to town.

I use to post this photo every day in my older blog as the first photo of the day. You could tell just by this photo which has me facing west, what the weather was going to be for that day. The rains will come from that direction but as Stella and I walked our Saturday morning stroll, rain seemed like a far fetched idea.

You can see the field is growing by leaps and bounds almost overnight. What a difference from just 30 days ago. I followed Stella's pace this morning which was the typical weekend "slower than slow" stroll through the field.

That gives me time to sort through all the thoughts I've had about moving the past week or so. It's really intensified the past few days and I thought last week was bad. Since I would like to keep some of the places I am looking at private, I'll only mention the two states that have the towns I am really interested in.

A few readers that I have gotten to know over the years, do know which towns I am speaking of and all of them have given me valuable information about the areas I am interested in. I know that all decisions can't be based on what I read on the internet or even pictures of property but I still get some idea of city comparisons by using BestPlaces and AreaVibes websites.

Since I have narrowed it down to two towns, one in New Mexico and one in Arizona, I compare them to my current town and Bloomington Indiana which is rated as a great place to retire and a town I went to college in just a short distance away. I'll not go into detail of those comparisons but it did have some surprises.

Take a look at AreaVibes to see what categories they collect data for and rate.

As always there is always doubt about moving with the hounds. When I had four of them it was no question that I would not be moving. Now with two that will be 10 years old this summer, moving is a little more doable. I have already been informed by an agent in Arizona they would be allowed for a certain neighborhood as well as renting a house.

Many have asked, how could I even move from an area like this and all the field that the hounds can walk and explore in. I know what you mean. The hounds have always been my first priority in these kind of decisions just like when I was trying to decide whether to RV full-time or not.

As you have seen, Heidi's walks in the field are few and far between. She really likes a hot sunny day where she can lay in the yard and enjoy the weather. I think she would love a place that has sunshine 285 days per year and less than 13 inches of rain compared to the 55 inches of annual rainfall we get now. That number seems to have gone upward the past few years.

Stella seems to enjoy her walks but at times I wonder if she only walks because I am taking her outside instead of the other way around. For example, Sadie was the one that decided when all of us would walk ... where Stella will sleep through the afternoon walk unless I wake her up to go.

I cannot put my finger on any one reason that this urge to move has hit me so hard. There are a few reasons, some private and some that are really logical. I do know that I cannot explain all of my thinking here in one blog post about the 'whys' of wanting to move. I will say that the past three days the chances of moving are stronger than anytime I have talked of it in the past four to five years. It's like I have already decided I am moving.

I still use realtor dot com to look at property. I bookmarked all my different locations (4 of them) instead of saving them as searches within their website because they are faster to access the way I have them labeled and saved. They are sorted in "newest listing first" so I can tell just with a glance of anything new that comes up.

I also get automated updates on the locations I have marked as well as the realty company's website in Arizona. I did speak with their agency assistant the other day because I had a question about my hounds and the property I was interested in. She was fantastic and sent me more links of information about their town.

Late yesterday afternoon I received an email from a realtor in her business with an introduction and asking what I am looking for. He was also born and raised in Indiana and attended the rival university in sports of the college I attended. So he will be very valuable with his point of view of living in Arizona compared to where I am now.

On top of that I met a vet on Twitter as I was searching Twitter for any kind of information about the town. The good thing is, he is also in to bicycling and use to live in San Diego so once again I gained valuable information about two subjects I like and am interested in. He understands what kind of information I am looking for and the questions I have.

Each bit of information adds to my preference in the Arizona town. I am down to four choices: (1) stay where I am (2) Bloomington Indiana (3) New Mexico (4) Arizona

So that is were it stands. I'd like to do this move sometime this summer and definitely before college football season starts on August 28-30th. At the same time I know it's a possibility that I might change my mind and stay here but there is something different this time. I feel it's really going to happen and in some ways I am excited enough that I could move next week if I had a place lined up.

So that is all I have as far as updating my thoughts on moving.

This next bit of stuff I am writing about is a little concerning. Long time readers will remember last July as the bloodhounds and I were walking along the back of the field on one of our walks we ran into a 'visitor' ... another dog, something we never see in the field on our walks. If you click here and then scroll down you can see the beagle we ran into. He/she never barked, stood and listened and then turned and ran away NORTH ... that direction is key to the story I am about to tell.

Well last night around 7pm I had just walked into the kitchen and when I glanced out my window I saw that beagle semi-trotting across my driveway heading SOUTH. At the time I didn't remember it was the same dog we saw in the field last July. He/she looked stressed out, nervous ... so I went to the living room trying to convince Stella and Heidi they needed to change their routine and come into the bedroom so I could shut them in there while I try to rescue the beagle.

Of course when you have two hounds that are use to their routines and know that as they select their positions on the couch as I watch another Reds baseball game, that there would be NO NEED to get up and head to the bedroom. They didn't understand what I was telling them and they were not going to move ...

And ... they didn't.  LOL

So I took a chance, I left them where they were. That would be okay with Heidi because she is the true house dog where we know from past blog posts that Stella likes to explore the house while I am gone looking for food. Anything from bananas, apples, mangoes or tomatoes that are left in bowls on the counter.

I sat the two bowls of fruit on top of the refrigerator and took off in my car trying to find the beagle somewhere in the neighborhood. Of course by the amount of time it took for me to start my search the beagle was long gone. I had no idea what direction it took but I did not see it along the highway for the two miles south of me.

It was late last night while I was watching the game when I remembered it was the same beagle I had seen in the field last July. I think it belongs to the neighbors five or six houses north of me.

Being this close to a high speed highway, it is never good to see a stray dog running in the neighborhood. The few I have been able to catch and find their owner, it was amazing just how far they had traveled away from their home by the time I found them.

As you can see Stella had another successful Saturday morning stroll. I know, just like you, I cannot picture her walking like this in the high deserts of Arizona or New Mexico either. Yet dogs are so much more adaptable than people are. I can see her though sleeping on the hot rocks or concrete under the sun in those two states, just like she was here yesterday afternoon when the sun was in the western sky.

While I sat outside late afternoon yesterday she slept the whole time which amounted to an hour and a half on the hot concrete floor. That hot sunshine probably makes her joints feel better. Sometimes the sun is the best joint and hip supplement there is.

I admit I don't like the constant rains anymore just like I don't like snowy single digit winters. Rain is nice for a day or two but never all the time. With the Reds game not starting until 1:30pm my time today, that is if it is not raining hard in St. Louis, I'll have plenty of time to look for new information about the town I have locked in on.

Both hounds are still sleeping as I post this but it is so close to their lunch, they will let me know what time it is as soon as I step away from the computer desk. Yes, the skies are looking like a LOT of rain is on the way right now. In my book 84° and dry is better than 60° and rain in the month of April.

Oh ... I never spent a second of time today thinking about my Bureau of Motor Vehicles visit yesterday. Gotta go, Heidi just woke up and she wants her lunch NOW ... barking non stop.

Lunch was served and you can see they had no interest outside other than getting back inside for their post lunch siesta.

Where did the spellcheck feature go when when writing a post on WordPress ???? I hate when they update their site.

It's a quiet Saturday here in 'the tropics' of Southern Indiana.