A New Perspective & AOC

It didn't take long to have a new perspective this morning from the drastic change in weather to the dingbat AOC. I realized if I kept my eyes open I would continue learn a lot from my hounds, past and present. I have a lot of topics to cover today but first I'll update you on the drastic weather change in less than 24 hours.

As you can see, Heidi still knows it is winter and doesn't need a groundhog sighting to let her know how much longer winter will last. She will be sure to be awake for lunch though, she never sleeps through that.

There were a lot of changes over night. The White River runs the length of the state and is around 3 miles west of us. Off of that river are numerous creeks and one of those creeks is right behind those trees in the back and curls around the left side of the photo, eventually going under the highway south of me. So it was not a big surprise to see the field flooded much more than I saw late Thursday afternoon.

What was a surprise was to  see all the standing water around my house and lawn was gone!!! Compare this photo to the next two below, taken almost 24 hours ago

The only signs of water close to my house was this patch of ice caught in a low worn spot in the carport floor. That area will be filled in this summer with new concrete.

A few minutes before 8am I stepped outside to take photos of the same area ... there were light snow flurries against the dark sky. A little over an hour later it was blue skies, some waves on "the lake" from the strong winds coming out of the freezing NE. What a difference a day makes.

At 16°, it was a perfect time for the Friday morning walk with Stella. Compared to yesterday's weather, from the time we woke up, I had a whole new perspective on winter weather with temperatures in the teens and even a chance of snow this weekend. That is, I will take freezing weather and all the snow it wants to give me over the day we had yesterday. I have a new outlook for the rest of the winter, which has really not been that bad this year in 'the tropics' of Southern Indiana. Snow over rain, any day of the week.

Glancing past the house and through the trees you might think we are now living on lakeview property.  You can see the tall grass blow from the NE and the wind is freezing cold ... but no problem today. I am happy to feel my face freezing as we start our half mile walk. I thought the hounds, the house and I were going to float down the hill yesterday.

With a day or two off from walking, Stella was going to take it nice and easy to loosen up. No sense in pulling a muscle trying to start off fast in the cold wind. Since I learned how the zoom lens really works on the Canon G9 X camera, my photos are turning out much better than last month when I was pulling my hair out (what's left) from frustration.

I decided when choosing what to wear this morning I would put on the North Face snow boots that I use a lot for rain  or wet conditions. I didn't want to break through the ice anywhere on the path and get my hiking boots wet. I found out that 16° does a pretty good job keeping all that water rock solid along the path.

This is the most ice I saw during our walk. You'll notice below that Stella stepped around it just like she did the frozen puddle in the carport this morning. No reason to take a chance and slip on the ice ... she's smart contrary to what the AKC says.

In June 2008 that water you can barely see rose high enough to flood the highway at that spot. I still saw idiots passing my house at 65-70mph and hydroplanes through the flooded water .... the fire department warning them that they were trying to clear the highway of water !!!!

By this time my eyes are watering from the freezing cold winds and it sure felt like one or two of the tears were freezing on my face. Stella??? She kept her 'strolling' pace letting me know I need to relax, take life as it comes and screw all of the political noise on tv or online. She always tries to remind me to slow my brain down and enjoy life.

I called her name a few times but she wouldn't speed up. After all she is a bloodhound and they will always do what they want, not what you need. She was going to get her walk in one way or another after missing the last 3 and it did not matter how cold it was.

When I saw her looking this way while walking I knew there was no chance of her getting home as soon as possible. She didn't stop to check out the woods or smell the mystery field cat today but she glanced in that direction as well as picking up any scent facing her nose directly into the NE wind.

Is she getting cold??

As we walked through the north backyard, it looked and felt like it had never rained yesterday. All of those photos I posted of standing water, running water down over the small embankment just to the left of Stella was all fake. There were no signs of flooding and no feeling of a saturated yard and field. It was back to the frozen tundra we know and love.

It took a while but the light bulb finally turned on in my head about all of the political noise that has increased since January 1. I remembered how I use to feel before I didn't watch or read news from October 28 - December 9, just a few months ago. I knew then just as I do now, there isn't a damn thing I can do about any of it except vote when there are midterm or presidential elections.

The US Government is broken, corrupt as hell and has been for decades. That part will never be fixed in my opinion yet there will be constant attempts to change from a democracy to one of socialist tones. Maybe not as extreme as what the dingbat AOC, but subtle like the Obama Administration operated.

Late last night while reading The Deep State by Jason Chaffetz, I saw exactly what was taking place with the big "Green New Deal" announcement by the dingbat AOC. It was as plain as day and night, I had just read about it a few pages before.

A few points of interest.

The Democratic Party is using the dingbat AOC as a diversion tactic. Just look how the internet and tv news picked up on her announcement and everybody was talking about it. Just like that you forgot about the SOTU less than 48 hours before with the 79% approval rating. You forgot about the blackface news down in Virginia where two democrats are sorting out those photos and a third who happens to be black is shifting and dodging the accusation of sexual harassment.

We were not hearing any more about that caravan heading to our borders, instead we were hearing no more airplanes, use the train. Everybody sell your cars, trucks and SUVs because they would be traded for electric cars if any at all. Remodel your house so you can heat it with solar, or wind right here in the Midwest.

ALL OF IT was a diversion away from the problems the democrats are having. Plus it blankets any kind of good news coming from the White House.

This book by Chaffetz also pointed out, not intentionally but it fell right into place WHY SO MANY of those "old white men" in Congress, that seem to be looked down on in today's news .... ALL supported the Green New Deal .....

Why??

Jason Chaffetz explained in his book, it's common practice in Congress by both parties. IF you want to satisfy the people who voted for you but you do NOT like the bill .... NO NEED TO VOTE and put your 'No' on record thus pissing off the people that voted for you .... SIGN UP TO BE A CO-PRODUCER of that bill!!!! Common practice ... then Vote in Absenteeism.

No harm no foul ... your constituents are happy and the bill fails to get approved, just like the Congressmen wanted.

So it finally dawned on me how someone with an economics degree from an Ivy League school ... that couldn't find a job in business, turned waitress, turned bartender could be such a vocal point of the new Democratic controlled Congress .... she is their diversion for the Democratic Party. She speaks loud and clear. TV loves her and I feel she will be used a lot the next 18 months by the Democratic Party to smooth over any rough spots.

I feel better already and will kickback now like Heidi and Stella, enjoying the 'sideshow' while eating popcorn and sliding a dog bone or two to Heidi and Stella here on the couch.

I did not see the dingbat AOCs twitter account but it is all over the internet this morning, that she mysteriously DELETED  her Green New Deal pdf and the announcement tweet from a few days ago, from her Twitter Account sometime last night. (really her media assistant did it) .... because she had served her purpose ... diversion.

The 'noise' is everywhere from politics, sports, diets, food, new food regulations, the wall, etc. All I can do is live with it, be aware of what's happening just in case there are any changes to 'the tropics' and move on like Stella and Heidi do.

After all I'm retired and don't need all the extra bullshit in my life. Although I must not be too bent out of shape about things because my pulse rate sitting in front of the computer, watching a game or reading a book seems to show between 58-62 bpm on a regular basis.

I thought once again to hold off posting this until the end of the day but I think I'll post it now. I'll post something else later tonight for a couple of reasons. I have the urge to go out and drive the local area to take some other photos of the flood or ice ... but ... it is really close to Stella's lunch ... I want her to be fed before I leave the house for any length of time. Doing that seems to reduce the chance of her "attempts at escaping" from the room where she stays with Heidi while I'm gone.

So my drive will be after 1pm most likely. I'll be able to add some photos of Heidi too for the Friday night post.

It's a great day in 'the tropics' of Southern Indiana.

Super Bowl LIII Sunday

It was nice feeling the weather warming up Saturday at noon. Still we didn't do much, at least nothing to blog about Saturday night. Right after the hounds took their break outside right after their lunch I headed to the local library to hopefully pick up some brand new books that had arrived. I receive a weekly email from them every Saturday morning on new arrivals for books, DVDs, audio books and CD's. These books are also new releases in bookstores.

Speaking of bookstores, a major brand, Barnes & Nobles Book Store in Bloomington is closing or did close February 1st. When I thought about it, somewhat of a surprise then I asked myself when was the last time I browsed the store with a hot cup of Starbucks in my hand? When was the last time I bought a book? When I thought of other people with similar visits or purchases as mine, then it wasn't a surprise that it was closing. Sad but not a surprise.

While I went to the mailbox and Heidi roamed the front yard, Stella didn't move from this spot the whole time we were outside. Only to get up and go back inside.

I was lucky to pull two of the books off the "New Books" shelf, one that I wanted and one was something that looked interesting. I then scanned their displays of interesting books sitting out on display and pulled another new book from that collection. The book that looked interesting is "Notes On a Nervous Planet" by Matt Haig. I read 26 pages late last night. The book I could not put down all afternoon was "Team of Vipers" by Cliff Sims. I read half of that book, with small print and a lot of detail. I'll finish it today before the Super Bowl game at 6:30pm. The third book I picked up was "The Deep State" by Jason Chaffetz. That looks to be another fast read once I start it tomorrow or late tonight, depending on if I finish the Team of Vipers book. I believe The Deep State does exist.

I finally pulled myself off the couch last night, put the book down and took Stella for a early evening walk after 6pm. The air smelled of smoke but I am not sure which of my neighbors have a fireplace. I took a few photos but all I really wanted was to do the walk as fast as possible so I could get back to reading. There was enough time when we got back to fix some dinner, baked salmon and steamed broccoli. With all of my fruit gone, I really crave sweets at night.

This morning was a different story. It was already close to 50° by the time we stepped outside, over an hour later than normal. The skies were blue and the air was clear of any smoke smell. It was an enjoyable walk yet I could still feel just how hard the ground was as we walked. It felt as if it was still frozen. Later I did see puddles of frozen ice. I also found the mole tracks in my yard were hard as a rock.

The Canadian geese filled the skies today. As I watched them, they seemed lost and were heading east instead of south or southeast. Stella had no interest in looking at them nor did she stand still trying to figure out what that sound was ... she kept her nose to the ground and kept tracking scent.

A couple of different groups still heading east ... but it gets more interesting in the next few photos.

Once they were in the skies above the field behind the field we were walking, they broke the group up and flew in circles, only to head back west out of formation.

I had no idea what they were doing ... it didn't look like they did either.

Normally at this point of the walk is when I can catch Stella running. I trotted to get as far ahead of her as possible but as you see ... she walked and didn't even trot ... just enjoying a Sunday morning stroll.

Obviously a lot of animal traffic in the yard last night.

Making that same right hand 90° turn so she can walk along the side of the house to finish her walk. How long will that habit last?

Of course none of the blue skies or warmer temps changed Heidi's daily schedule.

I don't think she was happy I woke up her taking photos a little past 9:30am.

I have not read or seen anything about the Super Bowl today. On purpose. I have no idea if there is a crisis going to happen, nor who the halftime entertainment is. In fact seven hours before the official start time (not the kickoff) I am still not sure that I am even going to watch it. I might tune in to see what is going on or I can check the score on my phone while I am reading books. IF it becomes a 'political statement' I will turn off the tv as fast as I turned it on.

What I will probably do is take advantage of this great weather today, go outside and pick up all the small tree limbs or twigs from the yard and add them to my burn pile. That is what the blue trashcan is for, collection. Plus it's flipped over in back of the house under the overhang too keep it from becoming a rain collector that would be solid ice even today. Or ... I'll spend all afternoon reading since the books are that good.

A beautiful Sunday here in 'the tropics' of Southern Indiana.