Stella Out Smarts The Rain

It was not a surprise to hear it raining as we started the day with the normal routine. It was "oh dark thirty" and Stella didn't step off the carport floor while Heidi snuck out under the overhang for her early morning trip. I poured the kibble into their dishes during that time like I do every morning. It wasn't a hard rain today but a steady rain.

Obviously the downspout is blocked by leaves ?... it was a clean gutter just a few weeks ago when I checked and leaves are not even on the trees yet. A bird nest ??? I'll be able to reach over the edge while standing on a 3-step stool and pull out whatever is blocking the downspout.

Stella in the meantime had to do some thinking this morning. She could hear rain drops and she could smell rain so she did her normal secondary way of bypassing the rain ... walk along the side of the house, a left turn immediately outside the door ... slide between the shed and car ... thinking that will keep her from getting wet.

She had come up with a plan though after a few minutes of analyzing. She HAD to pee but she hates getting wet and she never does that inside the house or on the concrete floor. Well trained as a puppy, 4 owners ago.

Some way she figured out it was not really raining but the sound was coming from the overflowing gutter with the blocked downspout. She knew there was a way around it.

She needed to curl around the edge of the house, missing that dripping water.

She was successful, staying on the dry river rock and coming back as soon as she was finished.

You will never fool Heidi though. She knows what is going on outside and it's not within her threshold for activity. She will get up when it's time for lunch and not a minute sooner.

I am going to buy two or three more of these but with a different planting strategy since two of them has died due to lack of water the past two winters. This one is in front of the carport and for some reason gets enough water from the rain, although it is still under the roof overhang.

I will move the walking stones back towards the house on the dry side of the mulch, where you can barely see the dead Azaleas. Then plant the new Azaleas where those stones are so they can capture the water when it rains.


My wandering around realtor dot com continues. Some places have been eliminated while a few new spots have been added to my search. Yes, I have questioned myself on whether it is out of boredom, rainy weather and a real desire this time. There is an area that I always goes back to year after year when I look.

Since Bloomington Indiana is rated as a top retirement city, less than 100,000 population until you add in the 42,000 or so undergraduate students at IU, it has been added as a possibility. It has great medical facilities, public transportation, top restaurants with any kind of food imaginable along with sports in the Big Ten Conference ... I have looked around and bookmarked some areas.

If you were to drive over the causeway on Hwy 446 crossing Lake Monroe you would think you are in the Pacific Northwest near Whidbey Island. A lot of lakes in the area if that is your thing. Why would I make the 25 miles move? That's the million dollar question that has no answer at this time.  :)

For some reason I have lost my urge to read books. Not sure where it went but it's no longer there. I returned the books to the library and I did not finish reading any of them. I really think I am in a funk of some kind until my sunny warm weather returns and I can get back outside doing something. Doing the dishes and laundry don't seem to excite me too much, although the dishes are done.

That's about it this morning. I am headed back to realtor dot com see if I can find somewhere new I can research. (Where did the spell check icon go on WordPress today?)

Nonstop rain today in 'the tropics' of Southern Indiana.

My Brain Cells Go On A Trip

I knew this morning when I saw the small creek had flooded into the fields, the chances of Stella wanting even a late morning walk would probably not happen. Heidi let me know that she was not staying outside any longer than needed because it was April 20th and 42° with light rain.

Usually when Stella is in this stance she is not going anywhere and is only waiting for me to confirm her decision by walking past her to let her inside the house. It took less than a minute for her to let me know we were going nowhere this morning.

So after pouring my second cup of coffee trying to wake up from my late Friday night of watching the Reds pull out another win in San Diego ... my brain cells floated away down memory lane. Was it the weather outside trying to make me forget it was officially spring or was it something else. I typed realtor dot com into the address bar at the top of the screen and started looking at houses for sale.

That happens when the weather is bad but it normally happens during the middle of winter when it's freezing snow and 7° outside, not Seattle weather in April. Now before you get too excited there is only one area that I would look at with the hounds in tow. All of the other places are for when I get older and might be boundless ... or I am tired of doing yard work or freezing my ass off in the winter.

While looking at houses, condos and even apartments for rent in one specific location, I did this the rest of the morning missing lunch and into the early afternoon. That is how curious I was. A little after 2pm the hounds acted like they wanted outside and I too needed to relieve some of my 'cabin fever' so we were off.

I didn't know that Stella was planning on take an early afternoon walk but that was nice.

She wasn't waiting for me as she silently snuck away while I was checking on where Heidi was at and what she wanted to do. It was 47° but felt colder and a light sprinkle of rain. For the second afternoon in a row, Stella took a walk in a light rain. That is history right there.

Long time blog followers have been on this 'trip' before and heard the same commentary as I move from state to state, large towns to small and from north to south. Today I covered NM, AZ, CO, NV, WA and CA. I reminded myself the reason I was moving was to see the sunshine as many days possible in a years time, with temperatures as high as possible for as many days as it could.

Another words, I need weather in southern Arizona or southern California to do that.

After living in Carlsbad California for close to 10 years I know what the weather is like and that May is the month of fog while December tries to get all the annual rainfall in one month. That's fine, it's not single digits. I have to watch myself though when I look at familiar neighborhoods because where I use to live I cannot afford. Plus I am not a fan of California's political leadership. I went from the coastal towns, looked at La Mesa and as far east as Borrego Springs.

Depending on locations in that state determined whether I looked at houses, condos or possible apartments to rent. Of course this would be years down the road without any hounds. I will admit though, good memories living in that area do cloud my thinking when I try to justify I could live there again.

I also looked again in my old stomping grounds on Whidbey Island, WA. I then reminded myself the reason I was looking to move was for good or great year-round weather. Whidbey Island is beautiful with the Cascade mountains only an hour away by car, Seattle a few hours away with today's traffic and Ft Ebey SP just minutes away. I also enjoyed the 10 years I lived there.

I did glance at Colorado, the two towns I lived in the early 90's and a couple that sparked my interest a few years ago. Yet, if I want snow and cold winters, I can stay where I am.

When I think of small towns in southern Arizona there is always one thought and not what you might think. No it's not immigrants traveling through the area but what will the water availability be like 10 or 15 years from now? I'm serious. Out there in rural small town Arizona water is more valuable than gold and seems to be disappearing in some mysterious ways.

Still the thought of being warm during the winter made me feel better ... then I remembered seeing the snow somewhere in southern Arizona where RVsue lives. Maybe what I want is winter or year-round weather is no longer possible. No ... Florida is not an option.

If you had not noticed in the photos, Stella started our walk taking the return path and then cutting over to the regular outward path in this next photo.

It might sound strange considering where I live now and from the pictures you see on the blog but I can see myself living in one of those small townhouses in Borrego Springs, CA. I always have a good feeling when I look in that area and at that property. A few of the townhouses have been for sale over 550 days.

La Mesa CA interests me because I could use public transportation and get to San Diego Padre games only 12 miles away. I'd have great winter weather and a lot of activity would be within walking distance. Maybe an over 55 complex might be the way to go in that area.

I could go as far east as Escondido or Vista or San Marco in northern San Diego County. Of course when I rode my bicycle through all of that area in the late 1970's it was all orange groves and now it is wall to wall houses. I remember when I flew down to visit friends in that area in 1994 I didn't like all the changes and the huge population/traffic explosion ... so I moved to Indiana, where I am now.

Of course all of this brain cell tripping could be just a case of things "always look greener on the other side of the fence" or it could also mean in a few years I will be ready to pack up and get out of cold winters.

So what location would I be looking at when the hounds would be coming with me ?? New Mexico. I've looked at a couple of towns since 2010 off and on. I saw the other day NM is now one of the three states that are popular with retirees. Ara over at The Oasis Of My Soul has given me a lot of good information about the town he lives in.

Like anywhere in any state, all towns large or small have their own plus and minuses. Compromise is a needed feature anytime you move. I can say though that everywhere I have lived in my life I have really enjoyed my time there. I have never lived in NM but have traveled through it numerous times by car, VW Bus and bicycle.

It does get cold in that town and they do get snow in Alamogordo but rarely more than an inch or two and it is usually gone within 24 hours. If you want snow, the mountains are 20 minutes away. I have always enjoyed the time I have visited towns in the high desert.

Like I have said many times though, where I am now is perfect for the hounds. I cannot beat this 7 acre field anywhere that I look at property out west. I also enjoy a lot of the benefits living in this area. I'll not list everything but this small town had a higher livability rating than any of the towns I have looked at out west. Now if I can just remember what that website was called that gave every town or city a 'livability' rating, I could check out some more information.

Another telling sign is, when I get in moods like this and consider different moves, it usually takes me only one walk through the field to pull those run-away brain cells back into formation where I can think logically and find out this place is hard to beat. I like hot and humid weather, it's just being delayed this year.I will continue to look at property just like I did this morning.  :)

Yesterday was my first day in a very long time that I ate food without logging it into my phone app and then later manually inputting some data from that app into my spreadsheets. I had no problem getting through the change. I bought nothing different when I shopped for groceries yesterday.

It is the late night baseball games that is killing me this past week. Last night the game went 11 innings which put us past 1am. I also think looking at the city skyline during that game in San Diego and remembering just how many Padre games I use to attend, in a different stadium, may have brought on those thoughts about moving back to the San Diego area.

The thought of living in southern California again, maybe in a condo with no yard work, does spark my interest more than it should.

It will be interesting to see what Stella does in a few days at the end of her walk when the weather is sunny, no rain and back to the high 70's. Will she still walk as close to the house as she can or in the middle of the yard where it will be nice and warm.

Luckily the Reds game starts an hour or two earlier tonight but I still might need a short siesta this afternoon if I am going to make it through another 9 innings of baseball. Otherwise I'll make a new cup of coffee, log back into realtor dot com and let my brains cells take me on further travels.

Seattle winter weather today in 'the tropics' of Southern Indiana.

I'm Stopping The Food Insanity

As you can see, today will not be much different than yesterday as far as outdoor activity for the hounds. The first two photos were from yesterday afternoon. Both hounds had relieved themselves first thing in the morning, in the dark around 6:38am but the day of rain really put a wrench in their plans afterwards.

Heidi eventually 'hid' under the overhang to do what she had to do and Stella held out as long as she could. She stood in front of me around 1am as I was watching the 9th inning of the Reds game to let me know she wanted to go outside, no matter if it was still raining or not.

This morning was the same. It will be more of the same tomorrow. At least with all the rain all the grass, the fields, the trees and plants are recovering from the winter and growing fast and really getting green.

I told Stella we were needing some new photos for this blog post this morning. She literally stood right here, not wanting to cross the path of water nor did she try to walk around it ... she wasn't interested in going anywhere near the driveway under a light sprinkle of rain.

This always grows back nice after being dormant a month earlier.

With a look like this, Stella convinced me to get back inside. With a high of 47° possible, I changed from cargo shorts back to fleece lined jeans. I don't care that we are well into April. Where's those wool socks I tucked away in my drawer?

It was almost a year ago when my food insanity started. I was feeling like crap, feeling heavier than normal last May 2018. I stepped on the scales to see I had gained back all the weight I had lost the previous year and decided to do something about it ... like get serious. That is when all the spreadsheet tracking started and the food app where I logged in everything I ate or drank. Scanning a bar code on the food with the phone camera made it quite easy to do.

About a month or so ago when I was again seeing disappointing results I thought to myself "it is what it is, you're older and it's just what happens in life" ... thinking I'd go back to no apps, no spreadsheets, and then eat what I want when I want. After all, eight to ten months of trying to control calories, and the food I ate really was not showing that much improvement.

Certainly not enough to make it feel like it was worth my time.

That same feeling hit me a few weeks ago when I had regain the pounds I had lost the week before. Yet, compared to last year I was still under 8-10 pounds and from 2014 I was down 20 pounds give or take a couple. With all the logging of food and seeing how much fat, carbs and protein I was getting plus seeing that I basically inhaled 1200-1750 calories per day ... I didn't feel I needed to continue to log my food.

I knew what foods I could not eat due to ingestion. I also knew what foods I could not eat due to weight gain. More important, I knew it really was dependent on portion size, more than anything else. I know what food makes me feel good and what makes me feel sick.

I did not need a food app nor a couple of simple spreadsheets to tell me that.

So by dinner time last night, around 6pm I had decided that today would start my new path ... eat what I like, eat healthy food, NO logging of food, NO spreadsheet data entry and no more monitoring weight, inches or millimeters of fat using those skin calipers.

It would not make a difference !!!

While I was waiting for my 10:10pm Reds game start time I was doing a little channel surfing on tv when I stopped to check out the tv show about the last days or hours of famous people who had died. In this case it was about Michael Clarke Duncan, the star in the movie The Green Mile with Tom Hanks. He died in 2012 of a heart attack, eating a strict vegetarian diet and was a workout addict.

It was just what I had talked about here a couple of times the past few weeks.

Long story short ... he had gone to a vegetarian diet about four years before he died because of some fainting spells and finding out he had a cardiac disease, where I cannot remember the name of it and am too lazy to look it up. The doctor on the tv show said his disease most likely started in his early 20's, leading up to a heart attack 35 years later.

That tv show was a few hours after I heard the notification on my iPhone that I had received an email telling me that Greg had made a comment on my blog post from Tuesday. You can read his comment here after you scroll to the bottom of the post. It's something to think about and I agree with.

He was basically taking the words right out of my brain, words that I had thought about an hour or two before his comment, a few weeks ago and the same thoughts a few months ago. It was good to read that maybe just saying 'screw it' was not insane after all. What I was doing with the food app, spreadsheets and a somewhat strict eating plan WAS insane.

It was like beating my head against a wall ... doing the same thing over and over again and getting the same results. You know, they say THAT is the definition of insanity and that is what I've been doing the past year.

So today is kinda a big day for me.

Habits will be broken. My thought process will catch the changes. My eating will not change much but those times I have urges for pizza or a cheeseburger will not be shoved to the side like I've been doing. Plus that "all you can eat" Chinese Buffet downtown will be back on my places to go list. The battered deep fried fish at Long John Silver's ... goes back on the list too.

The fact is I want to remain healthy, which I am based on my blood pressure and heart rate, no shortness of breath at anytime. I also know I will never be or get into the athletic shape I was in when I was younger but I have been healthy my whole live and never had any kind of health issues 66 years later.

I am not even sure that I enjoy riding a bicycle after all the thousands of miles I have ridden in my life. Those miles started when I was growing up, riding the 2 miles to town on my one speed Schwinn. Then riding further and doing some bicycle racing in my 20's along with the summer cross country trip to California and then up the coast to Seattle when I was 24 years old. I wasn't bad in my 40's when I was at home and not on deployments on aircraft carriers.

I could ride 25-40 miles daily after work and a 100 miler on Saturdays. If I was in town I would ride the Seattle - Portland ride every spring, 202 miles between 10 - 11 hours of riding. Yet in my 60's I lost that urge to ride. It might have been a lack of motivation as I got older or my sore knees as I tried to get in shape. Or it might be fear ... yes fear.

I see too many cars and trucks in front of my house going 55-70mph, running off the side of the highway onto the shoulder. Plus I see too many people when I am driving that like to text while they drive. I have a slight fear of ending up a statistic if I ride my bike in this area. A couple of local riders have.

I know and have always known that when my time is due it will happen. Very little in between now and then will be much of a factor. It's life, not a big deal. I would like to outlive my hounds, no doubt I will but I hate the thought of dying while they are still living ... sad to think of that option.

So ... I am going back to really enjoying life and not putting everything I do into a damn spreadsheet or a food app on my phone !!!!!

Things are good here in 'the tropics' of Southern Indiana.

Winter In April

It was less than a week ago where I was washing my car after mowing the yard wearing a t-shirt and cargo shorts. My brain was sure that "spring is here" with the hot temps of summer right around the corner. As Stella and I finished our walk this morning, the "feels like" temperature was 31°. It felt colder than that as we marched through the wet field.

A Good Feel To Today

It was a few ticks below 60°, all the windows in the house were open, birds were singing and both hounds were sound to sleep after waking me up a little past 7am to eat breakfast. With a forecast of 80° today before we are bombarded with thunderstorms tomorrow, I didn't hesitate putting on cargo shorts. Once I heard Stella shaking in the bedroom I knew our walk was just a few minutes away.

It felt warm outside with the old carport thermometer needle just past 50°. While Stella got her plan together I had already decided I would follow her today in whatever direction she took. She was going to be on her own with the whole field available. Totally unexpected, she started the walk in the normal way ... taking the path ... after a couple of days of needing verbal herding to get her to walk in that direction.

With that tall green grass, who could resist a little added breakfast food on top of her kibble a couple of hours before?

The past few days I had my hiking boots getting fully saturated from the heavy field dew. So this morning I slipped my North Face snow/rain boots over my low-cut summer socks. Just like Stella taking the normal path ... my boots didn't take on any water as the field had dried out along the path plus there wasn't any dew on the grass.

You can see the brush line getting green. While I was out mowing the other day I heard two of my neighbors doing the same thing and my next door neighbor mowed his yard as soon as he got home from work. I am anxious to see if this spring will be as wet as last year, where I only had a few days between rains to mow the fast growing yard. So far so good on the number of rain days.

Of course, just because it was a nice morning that does not mean that Heidi wakes up earlier and gets her day started. She will eventually walk out of the bedroom and start her stretching and move into the living room big leather chair sometime around 10am ... That will also be her norm during the hot summer months.

With a Cincinnati Reds game on tv at noon today, it will our normal time right after the game for the afternoon walk. Heidi will at least spend some time outside, whether she roams the yard or joins Stella and I for a little exercise. She enjoys time alone outside in the sun, just sitting there.

Even with all the freedom I was giving Stella for her walk, she didn't deviate too far from the normal path.

Like the other afternoon, for some reason she stopped out of nowhere and sat there. I have no idea what she heard, or saw ... maybe she was just in deep thought. With the pollen count increasing, even little bit, it's time for the daily wiping of Stella's eyes with a warm washcloth. I normally do that a couple of times per day for her and Heidi.

Right after I snapped that close up of her, she stood and leaned down on her front paws like she wanted to play then took off trotting away from me. Her and Sadie use to love wrestling along with running full speed a few years ago. Her running is a rare thing anymore.

I complained again to Chewy about how bad FedEx delivery was last month. I get Stella's glucosimine supplements from them. When I started last fall I'd get my shipment within two days. That gradually moved to five to seven days. So this morning I took a look at the tracking information and see that my shipment was picked up yesterday and will be delivered today. It will be interesting to see if the FedEx van pulls up the driveway to drop that small package off on my step.

Not a lot of eating today but a lot of data collection.

Close to getting back home and starting the day. The highlight of the day will be sitting inside watching the Reds baseball game. They are on a two game winning streak and could make it three today. That is quite a turnaround after starting the season 1-8.

She trotted a few times today but I was never able to catch her soon enough with the camera.

Not a lot going on as she entered the yard.

As usual, she walked right up next to the house as she finished her walk. You'll notice I have a clean car now. It was hard getting the dried bloodhound drool off the sides of it and the rear bumper. That stuff is harder to get off than tar or bugs.

Well I am headed to recycling.

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