You know something is wrong when you wake up and the room is filled with more sunshine than usual. Both hounds still sleeping, they have not had breakfast yet as far as I can remember. I don't recall ever waking up during the night nor do I remember a bloodhound nose nudging my arm if it's near the edge of the bed. It's 10 minutes until 7am and we haven't slept this late since we moved here. Not even the hounds.
All three of us jump into the normal routine. The hounds seemed confused since it's me waking them up instead of them waking me up. Once they head down the hallway they begin to realize we are starting our day and breakfast kibble is only a few minutes away. They both trot for the back door to be let outside. As I set the two dishes up to pour out the kibble, Stella lets out a loud bloodhound howl telling me she is happy breakfast is being served. Heidi trots around in excitement trying to get the best position once I set the dog dishes down full of kibble.
It was going to be either hiking or a roadtrip today but I needed coffee first, at least a cup before Stella and I took our two hour late walk. What would it be like, walking at 7:30am instead of 5:30am ... more people out walking their dogs or more bicyclist passing the house? I was almost shocked that we saw no one, no dogs, and only one car leaving the area.
That included a walk to the mailbox that is around the corner and down the block. I thought that was a pain to go that far for mail but it's nothing compared to those people that live outside of town and have the same set up. A cabinet of mailboxes on the side of the road for those that live locally. I get the idea that some of them drive a long ways to their mailboxes.
Instead of just grabbing some water, my cap, camera and heading out to the nearest trail, I was in a state of paralysis. Hiking or a roadtrip? I wanted to do both. Take the hounds or leave them home? Well that is pretty easy to answer. With the temps in the 90's by 10am most every day, if I plan to stop to eat somewhere or go see someplace interesting the dogs can't stay in the car due to the heat. Not all small restaurants allow dogs. So If I even think I might stop somewhere they stay home. The hardest part was trying to decide where to drive to.
Then I started thinking of all the stuff I'd like to buy for hiking in general, things suggested by a couple of readers. Like a First Aid Kit, some trekking poles, some t-shirts ... you know, just things on my mind that do nothing but distract me from doing what I planned on doing. Each time I glanced at the time, 30 minutes had past. The day was passing me by.
Around here if you don't get your outdoor activities finished by 10am, it is going to be too hot, possibly too dangerous to do much outside. I like hot, have no problems with temps 90° and higher but there are days I'd prefer to stay inside and just hang out. That's basically what the hounds and I did, not counting the short trips to the library, post office and the sporting goods store for those hiking items.
After that it was ok ... were do I go? I looked through my book of trails, looked at maps and even thought of going back to the San Pedro River area. That's it ... I could go late in the afternoon. Yet by 5:30pm, even the hounds stood on the small patio and they did not want to move either. Zero motivation. It was still 90°.
Before I could decide what to do, I was deep into that book I have mentioned a few times Going Back to Bisbee. I couldn't stop reading it. It was not only describing the San Pedro River area, he was giving me a history lesson about the area I walked in just a few days ago. He was going back to 1830 in his paragraphs. I was totally unaware what I was walking through and taking photos of the other day, until I read this book today.
Stella decides even at 5:30pm it's too hot and she wants back inside. Since our move she basically doesn't let me out of her sight, following me from room to room. When I let her back inside she laid down by the door right inside with the AC while I sat outside reading my book. Although as I type this I am in my computer room and she is sleeping in the living room, so I guess it's not as bad as I think it is at times.
As I kept looking at the sky today I realized that some days I do not need to go anywhere ... I can enjoy the mountain views, the cloud changes and wide open skies right from my patio. Each day is still pretty amazing here as well as the night skies. I might have to start a little research on basic telescopes to use at night.
I went back to that book on local hiking trails, each having a detailed description and all hiked by the book author. Between the book I'm reading and the book describing local trails there is one thing in common I keep seeing. Each says the best time to see these specific areas are in September and October. Those are options with cooler temps, less people around but if I can go hiking on the mornings I don't ride a bike ... I can take some of those hikes now instead of waiting.
I wasn't going to do anything when I saw their news but this morning I clicked that link provided by Equifax to see if my information was in their 2017 breach. Within a minute they told me I was. Since I was also involved in the Government OPM breach many years ago, I have lifetime ID protection provided for free. Since I could prove to Equifax that I would have ID protection for the next six months I could chose the option for them to send me a check "up to" $125 ... whatever that means. How will they determine the amount of payment? Information is the same for everyone .. with financial risk different.
By 9:00pm the skies were calling it a day. Heidi had not moved for hours sleeping deep in the dark bedroom on her dog bed. When it comes time to sleep for the night she is still on Eastern time and does not hesitate to get up in the living room and walk back to the bedroom to go to her bed. Thats 5:30pm local time for her calling it a day.
A short note ... the book about this area had a great description on the history of a small town NE of me called St. David, as he was following the development along the San Pedro River. This book was written in 1992 but many things he wrote then are still obvious today. The book is so good that I took the one I was reading back to the library and bought my own copy on Amazon.
Everybody talks about water here in the Wild West ... it's like gold and I don't take my water for granted.