This morning I had the urge to take the
Nikon D3200 with me instead of the
Canon 9G X and it did not disappoint. Each camera has it's own good features that the other camera doesn't have. I took 68 photos this morning but no fear, I posted only 39 of them here. As you see, Stella was back to "my" normal routine of taking the correct path on the walk. We were off to a good start.
Of course the first thing I noticed was how heavy the D3200 was in comparison to the smaller Canon G9. It also felt a little cumbersome at first as I tried holding it under my arm as I pulled my jacket sleeve back on my left wrist to start my activity timer. I almost dropped it. A slight change that was interesting, I caught myself looking at the monitor on back of the camera to take the picture instead of through the view finder.
When I use the Canon G9 I have yet to use the camera well enough to capture a close up picture like this at close distance. I need more practice, at least before the field turns green with wild flowers galore and the butterflies later in the summer.
Another change I made this morning for my own sanity and a possible test ... when Stella was busy with her nose to the ground, as long as she wasn't eating deer scat I was going to let her take time to fully investigate the scent she had picked up. If that included her wandering a little off course then so be it ... the time was hers. I wanted to see what would happen if she never heard the words "come on" and could go at her own pace.
It was cold this morning, really cold but the day has plans of warming up from 27° to 53° although by the time that happens I will be buried in my couch with four basketball games on my split screen at once. March Madness never disappoints with some upsets by schools you never could dream of them beating their opponent. It never fails and as usual, if you are a 5 seeded team playing a 12 seeded team ... watch out. 12 seeded teams have made those upsets over the years more than any other underdog.
At first I thought that Stella had some deer scat she was eating but when I walked over to see, she only had her nose pressed on the ground. It was like a magnet. I gave her the time to investigate like I promised myself and walked away.
We were not even to the first turn yet and she had already moved in front of me, slammed on her brakes so she could walk in front of me at a crawl, causing me to tip toe or chop my steps, to keep from walking into her. If I went around her, she'd eventually move back in front of me.
I do notice as I look at these pictures, the color is not as deep and defined as when I take the same pictures at the same time of day with the Canon G9 X. This is after I added some color and other editing to these pictures.
When the field is under heavy frost it is easier to see all of the hoof prints of the deer traffic and all of their paths they have worn while moving through the field from the gully or into the wooded areas. You can barely see the path that veers right, which leads to the top of the gully and moves to the bottom. I haven't been up in the 'far right corner' in a while ... Sadie use to love exploring that part of the field.
Deer traffic must have been heavy last night or this morning. Stella must have stopped a hundred times during the walk to sniff certain areas. I didn't say a word and either kept walking or getting in a better position to take a picture. It might have been below freezing temps but the birds were out in force, filling the morning with constant chirping.
The path that Stella is taking is also made by routine deer traffic. It will go straight ahead but right before that large power tower they will turn and walk in front of the tower, curl back to the edge of the field and the move to the corner of the north woods. Maybe tomorrow I'll take Stella down that path all the way to the north woods so you can see what I am talking about.
Once again, her nose is pressed hard into the ground.
She seems to be on some sort of mission today. She was very focussed which is different for her.
While I was taking pictures of things behind me, you can barely see Stella moving in front of those bushes, still curious about what she is smelling.
I don't know if she came to a point where the scent disappeared or something else was confusing her. I was not saying a word, just watching to see if we were heading home or going north to the woods
he decided it was time to head home.
On thing I like on the Nikon D3200 is the 200mm zoom lens of course. It does a better job of getting some detailed pictures of Stella's loose skin as she walks, or her frowns. The Canon G9 X zooms to only 84mm. That was a difference I thought long and hard about before deciding to make the purchase. Could I work with a maximum of 84mm??
When I saw where she was walking I thought we might be headed to the neighbor's house two doors down from me. She was on the worn old ATV path made a couple of summers ago and it circles to the backyard of the neighbor that owns the field. I remained quiet though because I wanted to see how she would do today without any verbal herding.
It didn't take long for her to get back on the path. She acted like she wanted to trot or run but didn't because her paws were cold. Not that they were, but she acted as if they were too cold to run or trot on.
Yes, same spot every day, same glance in the same direction ... checking out the small wooded area behind the neighbor's house. I saw nothing nor heard anything in the direction she was looking.
I continued to read my books last night while glancing at the ballgames with the sound turned off. The book called "How Not To Die", talks of eating a plant-based diet and with scientific proof to validate the reasons why plus show all the different diseases it reverses.
I was surprised but happy to read when he said there is nothing wrong with having an occasional loaded pizza or a cheeseburger ... as long as "you are not dipping your fork into the eliminated foods every day" and he talked about how this dieting stuff works if you have an addictive personality. One where a person goes from one extreme to another but never falling in between.
That would be me. One extreme or another. It also explained why I have always had trouble in the past of allowing myself to eat foods I am trying not to, (moderation) then falling off the diet wagon and going back to eating anything I want whenever I want.
Still, it has come to a point in time for me, at least mentally, do I want heart surgery in my future or do I want to follow Dr. Greger's recommendations and prevent that painful process?
I am doing a pretty good job following the plan as I move into my 4th straight day. It was also good news to see that they had proven in other tests he had read in Medical Journals that it was a good thing to have four cups of coffee per day but no more, nor less than two. The results of those different test groups had distinct results.
I don't think I could handle four cups per day ... I'm fine with only two cups of coffee per day.
Like I have said before many times, just because we are getting close to the end of the walk that does not mean it will be over in a few minutes. She always finds one more thing she just has to investigate. In her own eyes she is also retired and time means nothing to her. :)
She looked at me for an answer, what was that high on the fence post (squirrel???) but I had no idea. Have you ever seen a more confused looking hound?
After she walked down the slight incline toward the house to finish her walk, then turned in the opposite direction to check out something else, I knew the animal traffic was extremely busy while we slept last night. She knows something or more than one animal has been in her yard. She is NOT as possessive of her yard or house like Sadie was. She is not a watch dog either.
Another morning walk is in the books. We took about five minutes longer than we normally do with the freedom I gave her this morning. Our first games start at Noon with an NIT game. Heidi had not made any sounds yet that she is up and ready to start her day ... that's about an hour away.
I'll still get in some pictures of Heidi's Saturday to post tonight, normal time ... 7:15pm.
Have I become addicted to blogging twice per day?
I know I am not breaking any news here because we all know the Mueller Report has been sent to the AG, it's all over the news. I have not watched any tv news but I could tell from the headlines from different online news sites ... it seems that CNN, MSNBC, MSN are going into the 'meltdown' mode ... they just can't believe the results.
One thing that they are not reporting on but it is going to get really interesting is this ...
The past and present rats in D.C. are scrambling I would hope to see Comey, McCabe and a few others behind bars once the IG Investigation is over but I know that will never happen. So I will be satisfied seeing the truth about them be brought out in more detail for the public to read and watch them squirm, maybe make their life a little more uncomfortable.
They DID break Federal Law ... prosecute them.
Need some humor ???
The Somalis are pissed at Amazon in Minnesota. Personally I don't give a rat's ass what they want or what their complaints are. I agree with the blog author that it all boils down to, they want times off during the work day for their daily prayers. Go find another job. F*** 'em.
I could go on about a lot of stuff this morning. My political rambling is bubbling right below the surface this morning ... but I need some breakfast and get back to my book reading before my IU game at noon, then the NCAA games the rest of the day.
So I'll pass on the ranting and just leave you with those two nuggets .. in the links. Be sure to read all of the article in the first link. Trump has already asked the DOJ to review and start releasing the emails and texts they have been holding until the Mueller Investigation was over. They are taking away the redactions. Oh boy!!
The truth is going to come out, even more than what we have heard so far and that is a great thing.
It's a beautiful morning here in 'the tropics' of Southern Indiana.
