Brain Cells Working At Full Speed

Late start but it was nice to wake up to a house full of sunshine and skies that look like we are headed back to normal April weather. I'll have a lot of grass to mow on Monday after the yard dries, just like we had planned last week. Stella had one of her better walks while Heidi slept the morning away going past her normal wakeup time. Does that mean my brains cells have settled?

Stella had to think a little on which direction she would take this morning. The yard was wet, she could see the field was wet but the sunshine told her today was different from the previous two days. Would we take off on the normal path or head north and walk against the grain?

With the Reds game over a little earlier Saturday night I had time to look at the website that Barney sent me in a comment yesterday. I also matched information from that site to one that I finally remembered. A final step is a forum with people who live in any town or city answering questions of those that may have or are thinking of moving to that town. I think that website is called "city-data". Whatever those websites are, I spent additional time looking at different towns very late last night.

It is strange to me that I spent all winter without a thought of wanting to move and now it has headed toward the edge of obsession. I need some yard work to drag me outside and away from my restless mind. I have plenty to do on the new 2019 list of "to-do's" so there is help on the way for my mental shortcomings ... I guess.

I was still in fleece lined jeans at 52° this morning with a jacket but it was a psychological win as I tied my hiking boots instead of the snow/rain boots I had been wearing the past few mornings because the field was just too wet.

To add to the intrigue of different towns in the USA to look at, a blog follower left me a new comment this morning on yesterday's post suggesting I consider some southern states in my search. Specifically Mississippi. She is familiar with the 'tropics' of Southern Indiana and she is also familiar with freezing cold midwestern winters so I think she has  a pretty good idea what my brain is processing and the reasons for this new mental exploration.

It was a little ironic that I have considered Mississippi in the past year or so when my mind wanders or when I am watching the house rehab show called "Hometown" located in Laurel MS. The south has always been intriguing to me, from my first family vacation in the mid 1960's and the few weeks I spent with friends down in Starkville and Biloxi in the summer of 1969. We left to go home a week before their hurricane but right after the moon landing.

Yet, the mountains have always been a magnet for me. Yes, I know they have mountains in TN, WV, VA and NC but none of those states interest me enough to move there. It reminds me of something I said on my other blog somewhere back in 2011 or 2012 where I would travel for a year or so and then lock in a location where I wanted to settle down.

What's wrong with where I live? Why not stay here and then just travel the few winter months to escape the freezing cold? All valid questions and questions I have asked myself before and more than a few times. Sometimes you just need a change if you know what I mean. Plus there are one or two personal reasons that I will never go into publicly.

With a day of sunshine and the Reds not starting their game today until 4pm, I'll be able to spend some time outside doing nothing but enjoying the sunshine. If you could see the hounds right now at 11:45am you might think the idea of going outside is only a dream because both of them are dead to world ... in a deep sleep and have been for over an hour. They are usually barking and howling for their lunch by now.

Of course Stella has me pinned in to my computer desk by laying partly on my leg arms of my chair, I can't move so I have no choice but to finish this post. Heidi has positioned her sleeping bag directly in the middle of the sunshine coming through the bedroom east window and has crawled under it for the optimum warm sleeping spot.

So our time outside will not take place until after they eat lunch, and after I post this. With great weather I might post a second short post later tonight with just pictures of their afternoon.

At the same time I will still continue to gather information on small towns in Mississippi. She was nice enough to tell me what area of the state to look at. That is always helpful. A few years ago I had asked my old friend living in Phoenix for some help with small towns in out-of-the-way locations in Arizona. He used to work for the state and drove everywhere for work. I still have that list of 10 small towns.

So, who really knows what might happen. That's the fun part, the research, the planning, thinking and changing my mind about what to do or where to go. It's like every other plan or trip I have thought about.

With more NP'a now charging fees for entry because there is an overflow of visitors, campgrounds being reserved and booked up through the summer it seems everyone else has the same idea to travel full-time. It's interesting it's the same bloggers that are posting these warnings now about how much things have changed the past few years when traveling by RV, trailers or van are the same bloggers that made these places so popular with their fantastic pictures and blog posts about where they were traveling and staying.

Is it possible to even live full-time on the road and boondock without seeing people near your camp site? From some blog posts I am not sure it is. Yet, that is the opposite spectrum from what I have been thinking of the past few days. That is why my mind is interesting and keeps me sane ... about the time I can decide something, it will ask me "but what about ....., did you change your mind on that?"   LOL

That's why it's good to be a bloodhound or basset hound. Both have very consistent thoughts. Routines might change every once in a while but nothing drastic. They still have an appetite for any kind of food, love siestas as well as watching ballgames from the couch ... although they usually sleep through the whole ballgame. They would probably lead me to my answer if I'd pay attention.

At least I got off that topic of food and all the indecision about that. And I've been out of the multiple car trading period. Those use to be fun times but financially costly at the rate I was trading or buying additional cars.

I still laugh at the local dealers mailers they send me, offering me a SIX YEAR LOAN !!!! WTF ... 72 months to finance a car when I have paid them cash in the past? I guess they were not paying attention after all and I am just a number to them. No worries, I know about their marketing plan and desire to put me in a brand new car or truck.

Well I have run out of words at this point plus I am a little restless. Stella has moved from the back of my chair so it does roll away from my computer desk now. Things are looking up and no doubt that as soon as Stella wakes up Heidi they will let me know it's time for their lunch.

One more question though.

Can I live in town with neighbors if I am a hermit type loner?

Being superstitious sometimes in sports, I will be wearing the same Cincinnati Reds t-shirt today for the fourth day in a row as they go for their fourth win in a row in San Diego. It's not as bad as it sounds because I did take showers in those four days.  :)

Stella could have sworn I mentioned something about food, breakfast, groceries or something along those lines. She stopped walking immediately and stared at me because of what she had heard. She isn't stupid.

Another morning walk officially in the books ... you can see it's going to be a good day today, nice and sunny with temperatures in the 70's right around the corner.

Now let me open four tabs at the top of my screen and start checking out towns in Mississippi, north of highway 82 (as suggested), look at houses for sale on zillow and realtor websites, then compare towns.

Never a dull moment here in 'the tropics' of Southern Indiana.

The Hounds Enjoy Their Weekend

First of all I hope all the blog readers that experienced tornado weather yesterday that moved through the south made out okay without any kind of damage. We had nothing like that yesterday but woke up this morning to signs of heavy rain last night while we slept. These first few pictures are from an exciting Saturday ... as you will see the hounds didn't do anything different from any other day.

Stella and I had a good Saturday morning walk. I planned on posting just one blog post Saturday later in the day, thinking I would get some activity from Heidi. That did not prove to be a correct assumption. She didn't do much, didn't want to do much and following her lead ... Stella and I ended up not doing too much on Saturday either, with great weather outside.

With a weather forecast of rain most of next week I was going to mow the yard while it was dry. In some spots the grass was tall enough to mow but I knew if I waited another two to three days after the rains, then it would be too tall to mow with a lot of excess grass lying around. After seeing some water standing in the field this morning and my neighbor's culvert I was happy I mowed yesterday.

Like I said, Heidi didn't do much yesterday. Did that short burst of sprinting and getting airborne on Friday afternoon take that much out of her? She spent a little time outside after her lunch but wasn't interested in anything else besides sleeping the rest of the day. She had to get ready to watch the Reds game at 7pm. I decided to spend the day reading books.

Stella felt the same way. Took a look around, then turned to head back inside. She was in her afternoon siesta mode within minutes of stepping inside the house.

I never heard rain last night while I slept. I did close all the windows though because the temps were going to drop to the low 40's during the night. This is always a sign that it has rained a lot. The water comes from under the edge of the shed wall, yet when I sit a level on that carport floor ... it is level.

Even if the standing water is small in this part of the field I know by that, the path in back will be saturated under the leaves and there will be spots of standing water on the path the further we get into the field at a higher elevation.

What a shock I had when I stepped around the car this morning. I had forgot to put all the stuff back in the shed after I mowed the yard yesterday. That just shows that we did not get back outside much yesterday afternoon and I evidently did nonstop book reading right up until the time the Reds game started. Only the mower was rained on.

I was also a little surprised that Stella was going to go on the walk this morning. I took a step onto the path and had water coming up the sides of my boots, over the edge of the soles of the boots. With more rain on the way, about 40 miles west of us, we didn't have much time to get this walk in this morning.

Stella didn't take long to decide the path was too wet and she moved off to the side as we started. The field grass is growing fast, faster than my yard is.

If the path was fairly dry she walked on it. Once it became to saturated with the rain water, she moved off the path just like always. She is smarter than the AKC thinks she is.  :)

We are nearing the back of the field, about 40' higher in elevation based on facts from my Apple Watch, and there is standing water on the path. That is not out of the ordinary.

I made some minor adjustments today in my clothing. With it being 44° at 10am I went from summer clothes back to wool socks and a thermal long sleeve undershirt. I am a wimp the older I get when it comes to cold weather. It did snow lightly the first week of April last year so in comparison this weather is not bad.

Stella didn't investigate a lot of scent nor did she eat deer scat this morning. She acted as if she wanted to get this walk over as soon as possible. Walking at a pretty steady pace we knocked off 3 minutes from our total time for the walk.

You might notice her collar has a slightly different tint of red. (faded) The other bright red collar I tried the other day was just too small for her. Late last night I opened the closet door in the kitchen where I have all the older hound collars hanging along with my three 6' leashes. I found a collar that was a little longer. I moved her current rabies tag to this collar and slide it over her head this morning.

She whines when I take the collar off of her as if she likes wearing one. So she was pretty happy this morning to have a different collar to wear. Heidi does not wear a collar until she makes a trip to the vet. Sadie and Winston didn't either

Most of the day is going to look just like this. With more books to read and the Reds starting at 2:30pm today, it can rain all it wants to outside.

I've gained all the weight back I had lost a few weeks ago. At least I know the reason for that and my spreadsheet confirmed what I thought the reason was. One is eating 500 more calories per day, bumping it up from 1500 to 2000 range. Along with that is an increase in carbohydrates. Like I have said before, carbs and I do not get along, with added weight and slight indigestion when eating food that is called healthy.

I do best somewhere between Keto Diet and a Paleo Diet compared to a meatless diet or one with a lot of grains and fruit.

I thought we might take the older path home but at the "Y" Stella kept walking our newer path we started a few years ago. It's the one we take the majority of time and ends up putting her in the northern part of the backyard.

She got an early start of cleaning her legs up and didn't wait to get in the house to start her daily routine after a walk through the wet field. She will lick to dry her legs and all of her paws dry. I have not mowed the north side year nor this north section of the backyard yet.

She was about as close as she could get next to the house. Closer than she normally does and I can only assume it's because of how wet the walk was. I still have not decided what to do about the area where the river rock is. Mulch or grass?

With temps in the 40's, a cool breeze and no changes predicted for the day, you can expect Heidi to do this most of the day. She does demand the sleeping bag though, even when she moves to the couch. I know that when she is staring at me shivering she is wanting me to bring the sleeping bag to her on the couch.

I heard about Trump's new idea for placing the illegal immigrants in the US ... giving them a bus ride to the sanctuary cities.  LOL ... isn't it interesting that those politicians that support sanctuary cities do not support that plan to accept them. I still say, the Democrats are 'giving' Trump a landslide win in 2020.

The NBA Playoffs have started I guess. I never watch the NBA and I can't even tell you who won the championship last year. For being a sports fan and a college basketball fan it is a little strange how I have no interest in professional basketball.

I found a Toyota FJ on AutoTrader last night that had everything I wanted in one but have not found that combination since I traded my first one in November 2017. It was silver instead of blue, it had the rock rails and the TRD package just like my first one had. The color and features are what I've wanted every since I traded that first one I had.

It is very tempting to make the drive to Northern Kentucky just south of Cincinnati to check it out ... but I won't. I remember why I traded my last Toyota FJ just last August. That lingering sharp pain in my hip joint every time I climbed into the seat. Plus I am on pace to drive less than 3,000 miles total for 2019 unless something drastic changes in my driving habits for the next 8 months. So what difference does it make what kind of car I drive, when I drive so few miles?

IF Heidi decides to shock me today and I can take some outdoor photos of her, I will and add those to my next post. That is highly doubtful but you never know with her. In fact this morning I woke up to her barking from the hallway ... that has never happened, ever. She sprinted to the door when I walked by her and then tip toed around the standing water in the carport to get just off the edge of it to pee. She has always been the perfect house dog.

All is good here in 'the tropics' of Southern Indiana.