"25° and you think I'm going outside????" ... No Way!! There is one thing about having hounds, they are pretty consistent. They might change parts of their routines but still remaining consistent. During the winter months that means Heidi rarely gets outside until after her lunch besides her trip first thing in the morning. She went back to sleeping while Stella and I took off for a walk.
You might notice a difference in the lighting with these photos and it wasn't just because the skies were blue and sunny. It was the difference in time from the normal 8am start time. We were not even conscious this morning at 8am, so a late start to the day it was.
It was great to feel a hard surface as we stepped into the backyard. So much nicer than mud or a very wet path. Stella seemed to enjoy it also. By the time I started my Apple Watch to track the walk, slip on my gloves and grab the camera ... Stella was trotting away from me.
It was good to see her getting in some running this morning.
I came very close of just wearing a light 4-season jacket of my fleece sweater this morning but a few feet into the walk I was glad I had the Mountain Hardwear Parka on. the wind was freezing and strong. Maybe you can tell by the blowing tall grass.
Last night after 1am, the last thing I remember hearing was the howling wind, rattling the old storm windows and sounding like we were in tornado warning. It's my paranoia from June 2008 when straight line winds blew over two 100' + Sycamore trees across my front yard. I still have a small group of Sycamore trees just as tall, due south of my house, next to the driveway. Strong winds after a lot of rain are the same conditions as they were in June 2008.
Stella at times acted as if she was ducking her head into the wind. I knew when we would make the last turn for home we would be walking directly into the wind, It kept moving from the SW, from the W and then from the NW. Which ever way it came from it was freezing cold. My eyes were watering and felt like I had poked myself in the eye.
The picture of the AT&T tower is always a good indicator of our weather.
Once she sits down to scratch, that gives me time to get ahead of her so I can hopefully catch some photos of her running. Today I was 3/4 of the way to the first turn before she moved. You can see the sequence of her in the photos below.
Didn't seem to have much interest in running but moved right around me then stopped!!!\
No ... there is no one outside, there are no sounds, there is no cat in view, no deer in the woods ... nothing. But something is interesting to her. As she sat there like a statue ... I kept walking toward home.
It was an uneventful finish to the walk this morning. The only question now will be if I post this now or wait until the end of the day?
I received an email notification from the local library yesterday that a book I had wanted was available to be checked out. It is the newest book (From the Ground Up) about Howard Schultz. I know I mentioned I was no longer reading above the government, politicians etc ... but I want to know more about this man, just in case he can work his way through the maze of the 2020 campaign. So far so good after reading about a third of the book.
Besides reading about coffee in his book I noticed my supply here at home is getting low. That in itself is a reason for me to take a roadtrip to the store to replenish my coffee supply. I can run out of food but NOT coffee!!! I'll probably take that trip after the hounds are fed lunch.
I still use the "cord system" to keep Stella shut off in the bedroom with Heidi while I am gone. That keeps her safe and my fruit in the bowls. I also don't have to 'child proof' my house when I leave, in case she would escape. There are signs that she sleeps while I am gone and that is always a good thing.
When I see on Twitter that there are 40 days or so until baseball's first game ... that means Spring is right around the corner. Looking at my 10-day forecast and seeing all the icons showing sunshine or clouds ... no rain or snow ... it is perfect for February.
Well it looks like we have moved back into the regular schedule after a late start to the day. I might even find some motivation to go outside this afternoon and pick up all the small tree limbs, sticks and/or twigs out of the yard then add to my burn pile. It's going to a HUGE fire this year ... maybe next month.
We are much drier today in 'the tropics' of Southern Indiana.
