Hit By A Bolt Of Energy & Color

I can't explain it. I didn't sleep any better last night than I did the night before. Only this time I did not get up at 5:15am. Yet, I could feel and see that things were a little different today, by the way the hounds acted and the way it looked outside.


The field of yellow across the highway looked brighter than I had seen it this spring, even the dirt in the field next to it looked browner. Was the small window of sunshine showing through the clouds the cause of it? Or was it something else?

Sadie is always fully charged from the time she gets up first thing in the morning so that was not different. Stella acted like she had my first cup of coffee instead of me and Heidi was barking for breakfast kibble, something she never does. What was going on?

It was obvious by the time of day and the location, the hounds had found a spot in the yard that the big blonde field cat must have sat last night while we slept. They locked into that spot in the yard and didn't move, while I took pictures and started my walk back to the house. I had to call them to get them to leave.

Although Sadie was wanting to walk at 8:00am, she had to wait until I had at least one cup of coffee and the time for me to do some quick reading. We took off a little after 9:08am and right from the start I could tell this walk was going to be different from the recent ones.

As I turned to look for Stella like I always do at the start, she ran past me and caught up with Sadie. They took off in a semi trot increasing their lead in front of me. That was the fastest Stella had moved in months.

By the time I would stop to take a picture they were another 30' further in front of me. Besides the brightness of the yellow field I mentioned above, this 7 acres of field we walk in twice per day and sometimes three times per day, looked greener than I had seen it this spring. It was much greener than even yesterday and it was hard to believe ... but it looked like it had grown another 6" overnight.

Stella continued her trotting along with Sadie. She had not been at that pace in so long I can't remember when it was the last time she had this much energy. By the time I had snapped a couple of pictures, with a 200mm zoom, they were heading around the first corner and out of sight.

I increased my walking speed a little, anxious to see where they were at. By the way they were acting it would not have surprised me if they had shot down the side of the field and turned into the far right corner toward the "deer highway" down into the gully.

I was happy to see that Stella had stopped soon after the first corner and was enjoying a meal of tall wet green grass. Some would say she is eating that because she has an upset stomach while others say she just likes grass. I'll agree with the latter in this case, since she has shown no signs of an upset stomach.

Sadie was beside herself with what she had found. She had sprinted to the corner about to make the turn right, then turned around and ran back along the edge of the field on the path worn by deer traffic. You could not see that path today due to the taller grass.

After a quick analysis, she literally hopped into the air and jumped into the the thick brush of thorn bushes and wild vines.

She had found where the deer had been spending time but didn't stay long because the scent led her in a different direction.

About the time that Sadie jumped back out of the brush, Stella trotted to catch up and they took off around the corner, sprinting as they made the right turn.

It was good to see Stella back to running, and showing no signs of walking so slow that she would drag her feet. I had not seen this much energy from the hounds in a long time.

Sadie made a quick search along the back edge of the field, while Stella stayed right at the entry point of the "deer highway". I didn't say a word, I wanted to see what she would do today on her own. In the meantime Sadie could not stop moving. Whenever you see her tail curled like that and her nose toward the ground, she is totally locked into something.

Wunderground weather warned me of a high allergy count this morning due to trees, not pollen. My eyes had been watering from the time I stepped outside and my left nostril was itching to the point of near insanity during this walk.

Besides all the increase in colors, the hounds having more energy, the dew was heavy again this morning ... it's the main reason I wear the waterproof hiking boots for these early morning walks.

I didn't have to say a word for the hounds to take off down the back side of the field. Once again they moved out way in front of me. I walked my normal pace and let them go. Obviously they were on to something again and I wasn't going to stop them.

These pictures stop their action but in most cases both hounds are moving quickly when I push the shutter.

Sadie had moved out so far in front of me I had to max out my zoom lens. She was giving me a check look to see if I was watching her while thinking about running off into the 'no fly zone'. She stayed in that one spot as I caught up with her and made the final turn home.

I think you can see during the previous pictures just how much the field has grown in the past 24 hours. With a day full of sunshine today, the growth will explode. I might not be able to wait 7 days until I mow my yard again.

I had not quite walked to the last turn yet when Sadie takes off sprinting down the path with Stella right on her heels. They were going at full speed and I wished I had captured that speed with the camera. All of these pictures were taken with the lens zoom'd 135mm and above, just trying to keep up with them.

What was it they had smelled to take off like that and not veer off the path?

As long as they stayed within my view and Stella did not take off right for the woods, I was going to walk my normal speed. Sadie did not move from that spot in the next picture. Stella and I just caught up with her.

Again, I cannot get over the energy that Stella showed this morning on the walk. It also looks like she is finally gaining some weight back, less ribs are showing. With her normal 'hound look' and personality it is hard to tell if/when she is feeling bad, if she is at all.

I didn't say a word toward them the entire walk. They moved on their own and when they wanted to. Right after this next picture, they moved right behind me and followed me on the path home. What had gotten into them this morning?

The highway traffic seems to be energized more than normal today. While I wrote this post I have seen more farm equipment traveling on the highway and trucks pulling trailers than I have seen cars.

My curiosity has got the best of me about the two trucks that turned onto the country road within view of my house, towing a trailer with either very long steel beams or wood trusses. I am going to hop into the Mini Countryman later and head down that direction to see what I can find with my camera.

With the colors brighter than normal and the increased activity of the hounds this morning, I had taken 47 pictures during this session. That is about 10-12 more than I normally during the morning walk.

With a lot of those downloaded for this blog post, it looks like it might be a two post day today. It feels like a lot is going on today. I also have the urge to take some other pictures around town I have been wanting to take for some future non-hound blog posts.

It might also be time to take another trip out to the Tulip Train Trestle and walk over to see the old steel bridge across the highway behind the fields, since it has been two years since the last trips.

I feel like doing a lot of picture taking today and nothing that is on my 'to do' list here in 'the tropics' of Southern Indiana.

Hounds Go For A Ride

I was right ... once the bloodhounds heard me grab the FJ keys, they were up, awake and excited. They have become to like the short trips around town.

Heidi heard me but tried to ignore me and wouldn't move. She will not hesitate once I get her moving off of her blankets, becomes active and does what Sadie and Stella do ... it's just a matter I guess of getting her started.


She did a pre-trip pee and jumped up into the front seat of the FJ and proceeded to take her normal position of riding 'shotgun'. Sadie and Stella were already in the back and waiting to go.

I didn't know where we were going, so I thought I'd take a look at the old steel bridge across the highway. I wanted to see what the water level was like after the recent rains compared to last May when I blogged about it here.

This area looks a lot nicer in May when plants have bloomed and the scenery is green instead of the dead look from the midwest winter.

I knew when I left the car that Stella would jump into the front drivers seat so she could keep an eye out for me. I also knew there would be bloodhound drool involved ... and there was. It comes with the territory when you own a bloodhound.

She doesn't seem to like it when I get too far away from her eye sight. She always has to move to where she has a better view of me walking away from the FJ.

In this area the terrain is hilly, small fields are scattered anywhere a tractor can get into where they can plow, disc and plant the field. I guess a lot of small fields add up to a large field of crops when it comes to making money.

Here is a photo of my house from across the highway. Notice how the field behind my yard all moves downward toward my bank for all of that underground water.  That bank in 2008 was filled with 3 more of those large sycamore trees and solid with smaller trees.

The neighbor's house has been for sale since July 2014. That is the month and year the current owner bought the house. That does not include the year before that the previous owner had it for sale. Both owners want about $40K more than what it is worth. It has not been lived in since July 2014.

From there I crossed the highway and went straight ahead. This road is just a few hundred feet from my house. Part of the land borders the field that we walk in every day. I did not want to take any photos of people's houses along the way but I wanted to capture some of the wooded, hilly terrain.

That yellow sign stated Do Not Enter to keep the area contamination free. Those smaller barns must be where the turkeys are first raised. Owned locally but part of Perdue Farms. I was tempted to drive to the top of the hill but we turned around in the lot to the left.

Another older steel bridge is closed.

Last month a man in a natural gas company truck stopped by the house to give me some information about converting from electric to natural gas for power. With the EPA laws that may or may not change, my electric bill may increase more than I want. All of the major power plants in Indiana are coal based and future laws will dictate if my electrical power stays at a reasonable cost.

You can see here where they are installing new natural gas lines. There a lot more of these around the area that I did not take photos of.

Every road we drove on was narrow, hilly and pretty empty. I met a couple of pickup trucks along with way but you could tell it was a quiet Sunday. In the direction we were going I knew that we would be driving through the covered bridge that I took photos of in October 2014. I didn't know how the hounds would react but they ended up not saying a word.

Heidi spent most of her time standing with her nose out the window to pick up the scents of turkeys, horses and cows along the way. I had Sadie laying down in back with Stella standing to the left of my head, panting enough to where I could smell bloodhound breath ... it was great to be able to leave the windows down.

This company is still open but I thought their old building with advertising on the side of it was kind of cool looking.

We had driven in a small circle from the house but as we left town and headed home, the hounds recognized this highway as the way to go home ... they started whining, knowing where they were headed. All of them were pretty happy to return and wanted back inside the house so they could finish their naps that I cut short. They were all sound asleep within minutes.

It was a shorter drive than planned. My bladder dictated just how long the drive was going to be. There is not a lot to see around here. It's a small rural town. The county is large and has the 2nd highest unemployment rate in the state at 8.2% and a lot of the area is what I called 'depressed'.

It's very wooded and hilly here but 4 miles west it is flat, where fields go as far as you can see. The hounds and I will try to drive in that area this week.

It was a very relaxing day here in 'the tropics' of Southern Indiana.