The Hounds Battled Rain Today

With the light inside the house turning dark with the sound of loud thunder we knew the storms had arrived. Stella didn't get her morning walk, Heidi continued her daily morning nap. You would think by now I'd be use to this kind of spring weather but it sure seems like the amount of rain increases each year. The hounds and I did our best to move through the day though.

Heidi didn't wait until lunch to get up. She showed up unexpectedly next to my desk chair and that is a sign she needs her professional doorman to let her outside. Light rain but when you have to pee you have to pee. She wasn't out long. She was awake a few hours earlier then her normal time.

One is trying it's best to bloom ... the other, no signs of stems with bright yellow on the end

Once Stella saw that Heidi was brave enough to test the very light rain, she had the same plan as the other day ... curl tightly around the corner of the house, stay close to the house on the dry river rock and she'd be safe.

As the afternoon progressed it rained longer and harder while I watched the Reds on TV playing in sunny New York. When it rains as much as it has lately, that gives me a lot of time to think about all the movement in the air and passing through my brain cells. I have a feeling it's going to be an exciting summer.

By late afternoon, the rains stopped, the skies brightened up a little and it seemed like we could get a walk in just as soon as I put on my rain boots. Heidi din't have interest in walking in the wet field .. but Stella did.

Some ATV tracks, probably from the owner of the field that lives in that house you see at the top of the photo.

He did follow our path a little and then turned to the far right hand corner before turning around and heading for home.

Stella seemed to be in deep thought today while she walked. I wonder if she was mulling over all the questions I have been asking her these past few days.

One step at a time, slow enough that each step with a curled paw is caught by the camera like stop action. You cannot walk much slower than that.

By the time Stella and I stepped into the yard I could see Heidi at the far edge of the yard over by the bank eating tall wet grass. I am beginning to wonder of my 4-star rated dog food is missing some minerals or other nutrients, since both hounds have been eating more grass than normal in the past few weeks.

It's cool and nice enough weather to sit outside and sort out all of the thoughts lingering in my head. There's a lot going on and the hounds can sense something they just cannot figure out what it is. Really, nothing to announce.

I am back to needing to get to the store but I have enough food to keep me home. Am I really that lazy? Whatever happened to that news of Amazon drones delivering packages to the house. I figured when they bought Whole Foods and their new drone delivery plans that my shopping days were over. They could drop their pallets of food out here in the back.

It's May already in 'the tropics' of Southern Indiana, hard to believe. It wasn't 30 minutes after I posted this, it started to rain again. It's a good thing that Stella walked when she did, in between rains.

Heidi's Walk Is Rained Out

It wasn't going to happen today for either hound. It didn't look like that much rain and didn't sound like it was raining hard. When I stepped outside the carport it was coming down harder than I would want to walk in and harder than Stella or Heidi likes. So Heidi's consecutive days record for walking is broken but she still has the consecutive walks streak. In the meantime I've been tired of basketball today. It was on the tv with the sound turned off as I read books. Maybe I'll change the blog theme (design) to have something to do.  :)

New Books New DVD's

Like any other rainy afternoon, it changed the level of energy and plans for me and the hounds. Right after lunch Heidi was so disappointed in the rain she was hearing that she didn't even get to the edge of the house before stopping. I knew I was changing plans, rather than reading the book about Steve Jobs. I decided while waiting for the hounds, that I'd take my one 32gl trash can to the recycling center where they will accept my 1 bag of trash for a whopping $2.

Up until a couple of years ago, I was paying $20 per month for weekly pickup down by the mailbox, where many weeks I had nothing set outside for pickup. The savings per year equate to about four 40# bags of dog food ... not a bad exchange.

Stella wasn't much happier than Heidi was with the early afternoon weather. I wouldn't know until about 15 minutes later and 5 miles down the highway it would be much worse, with a full on summer thunderstorm. I see 60° as a possibility on my weather app in a few days. Can I sneak out of Febrary witout much winter weather this year?

With the hounds tucked away in the bedroom I not only went to recycling but stopped at the local library on the way back. There is nothing better than a small town library on a rainy afternoon. I did my normal quick shopping trip by eyeing the section of "new" releases. I grabbed a book called Hero Dogs by Wilma Melville with Paul Lobo.

I then head down the aisle where they have a long short bookshelf with more 'new'  books lined up on top in a display. I decided to expand my political awareness, taking Where Do We Go From Here by Bernie Sanders. I've always been curious what makes this man tick. Could he be the surprise of 2020?

While I was satisfied with my choices and checking them out at the counter, I glanced over at the DVD section where there were six 'new" DVDs lined up on the top of the case. I am rarely lucky to find anything interesting to watch, especially with those that are labeled 'new' but today must have been my day.

I grab The Old Man & The Gun with Robert Redford along with a western called The Sister Brothers. By 2:30pm I had watched the Redford movie and was about to put in the second DVD when I decided to hold off watching that until later.

I did not have to go outside to verify it was still raining, lightly. I took these next to photos from inside the house standing at the large window in my kitchen. It's the best window in the house as far as I am concerned. The hounds were still in their deep afternoon slumber in the dark living room.

Every time I see those posts I want to replace them with something else this spring. IF the new posts are going to be centered in the available space, a square post will not work. Today I am thinking I might have to look for a rectangular type post ... but new wrought iron posts might be my only option. I'd still like to change them to a wood post of some sort.

While Heidi was sleeping in the big leather chair and Stella stretched out on the couch, I opened to the very first page of Hero Dogs and started a new adventure. Sometimes I'll read multiple books at once but the last time I read each book individually before starting the next one. Freedom of choice is a great feature in retirement, ranging from eating, sleeping, reading, screwing off, yard work or to being a slacker in general. There is no finer way to enjoy life than having freedom.

Oh, back at the library I did see on the tall shelf of 'new' autobiography's was the book by Andrew McCabe. Glancing was all I did, the stench from that direction made me make a fast exit to the checkout counter.

Life was fast paced this afternoon in 'the tropics' of Southern Indiana.