Some Days It's Not There

I don't dare miss lunch time otherwise I will hear Heidi barking nonstop, that leads to Stella howling, until their lunch is served .... straight kibble. That was yesterday not today and there was a reason I didn't post these next photos last night ... the feeling to blog just wasn't there. That feeling shows up out of nowhere and is strong enough to last multiple days. Even now I can't say I have much to say nor do I feel like putting this together.

Where it was cold and sunny yesterday, by 11:30am today it was 47° and overcast. Lunch was served before they knew it, no howling nor barking was needed. In fact I had to wake up Heidi to eat lunch.

It is quite different than just two months ago after moving my main blog over to WordPress. Then I couldn't stop blogging and some days I blogged three times in one day. Then today, I have a hard time just putting a sentence together.

I think it might be caused by a combination of things. Nothing is clear enough to discuss.

If you don't see us for a few days that is where we are .... same routine, same walks. I'll continue reading books and taking siestas.

No answers today in 'the tropics' of Southern Indiana.

Headline News & Questions

"You want me to go out on the morning walk????? .... LOL ... No Way!!!!" Heidi might make a short trip outside late morning but she isn't going to join me and Stella this early in the morning. I was surprised she was awake when I checked on her before leaving. Is Saturday morning a day of nothing, with words hard to find for the blog today??? Not sure.

It did look a little different across the highway this morning Is the water receding?

I think it is. If you look closely you can see two newly formed islands, a sure sign that the excess water is slowly but surely receding. It will be interesting to see how long it takes with the temperatures below freezing. Speaking of weather ... is it possible to write a post without any mention of weather or temperature, or what a meal was? It's an interesting observation.

Have you ever heard leaves being described as rocks? Well this morning every leaf I walked on or every clump dirt I tripped on, felt like a rock. The leaves could be flat on the ground with just a corner turned up and that felt like a rock. I am not sure they even broke off when I stepped on them. That is how hard the ground is frozen this morning.

Stella was acting about the way I felt when I sat down to write this morning. Not much going on. She wasn't eating deer scat and actually spent little time tracking scent. Had the frozen ground affected her walk or nose also?

That is a look of lack of interest and looking for something to do or to eat. She did not even attempt to veer away from me, making me wonder what was going on this morning. It was a beautiful morning with bright skies and sun. Yet, something felt different about it. Something that I could not put my finger on.

When she stopped suddenly and looked in the direction of the field behind us, I quickly looked in the same direction. In the past on mornings like this I would see deer standing in that field staring right back at us. They would be a fair distance away but they could hear or smell us and stared right at us.

Maybe out of boredom, or an urge to change things, or maybe she was getting cold ... she came running at me and passed me before I could get a second photo of her running.

Very little movement in the tall grass today, unlike the past two mornings. Yet what little wind there was, it was from the North and freezing cold.

There must have been little animal traffic last night while we slept. For the first time in a very long time she did not follow the tree line smelling possible scent left behind. This day has a feel of being different in some way. Of course after last weeks excitement with rain, floods, freezing temps, political discussions and any other 'crisis' in the news, it was hard to find things to write about today.

returned from the walk to a hot bowl of oatmeal, around 40 photos to look at, editing only a few, while scratching my head for ideas on what to blog about. The IRS was kind enough to send my refund electronically only four calendar days after I had a notice they had officially received it. Some of that will pay for my state taxes.

I found nothing worth watching on my free weekend preview of Showtime last night. Plus the two movies I was interested in paying to watch had come and gone. I could synchronize my DVR to my internet connection and watch any movie "On Demand" but I don't have a spare 2Gb of data to throw away doing it.

Today might turn into a day of College Basketball on tv. There are a few good match-ups today and tonight. I can squeeze in some book reading also. The hounds will not do much different from any other day .... eat lunch ... sleep, change spots and sleep some more. Stella and I will take the afternoon walk.

Do I even dare look at tv news or online news to find something to write about?

I saw before I headed outside this morning that ALL Performance Bicycle Shops will close March 1st. That is where I bought my mountain bike a few years ago. Besides the one mechanic, and one store manager, I was the only other person in the store. I wondered then "how long will they last", with a great location and ample parking. They had everything you need for a successful business ... except customers.

I resisted a very strong urge for fast food yesterday. I ran through the list of possibilities in my head and could come up with nothing. That's a good sign. Just a few months ago I would have been out the door and down the highway figuring out on the go on where I was going to eat. Now I hesitated and nothing sounded good.

Is it possible to have a successful campaign when you may have 20-30 candidates declaring for the Democratic nominee? I know the Republicans had 17 the last election. Will it make a different with the additional candidates? I thought 17 was too many a few years ago. I will say right now, way in advance, there is no one on that side of the fence that I will consider. I will take a look at the Starbuck's owner but I'm not sure he will get the chance either.

What makes people drive around road closed barricades like I saw yesterday. I am assuming and hoping they were only needing to get to their house between the barricades and flooded area. Yet, when I see photos in the Bloomington paper of a car with water up past the bottom of their door .... what were they thinking? Are people really that stupid?

Here is some good stuff for you:

Netflix made a PROFIT of $245M in 2018 .... paid ZERO in taxes.

Is Cory Booker really stable enough to run for President? He compared the Green New Deal with the Moon Landing and Fighting The Nazis. Only a few months ago he declared himself "Spartacus."

I saw this past week that Adidas pulled one of their new shoes off the market because .... drum rolllllllllllllll ... it was an all white shoe, during Black History Month. Really? That's the best excuse you can come up with?

How would people and the media respond to a White History Month????

Will any bill be passed in Congress between now and January 2021? (That's my own question)

Is it bad to refuse to stand up when my Apple Watch tells me it is time to do just that?  (Me again)

Apple and Google approve App from Saudi Arabia that tracks movements of women.  (Can you believe this?)

And the highlight of some of the craziness I listed ... 2020 Democrats who back the Green New Deal -- spent hundreds of thousands of dollars on air travel include private jets.

... so being the smart ass that I am I have to ask "Will they take the trains after all the planes will be gone in 12 years after this deal is approved?"

No worries ... the hounds and I are still sane here in 'the tropics' of Southern Indiana this morning!!

Another Morning Hound Walk

The pace has been fast and furious since we are getting use to cold weather every day. I hate talking about weather but it's a big factor in what we do. It's early in the winter and the Bloodhounds are already showing signs of 'cabin fever'. We still get our two walks in per day as a minimum ... Except Heidi.

She came outside after lunch yesterday and didn't move off of the carport. As soon as that cold blast of wind came around the corner and hit her in the face right behind the Z4, she turned and headed back towards the door ... then changed her mind.

She wanted to make sure it was just as cold over behind the FJ because she really had 'to go' since she had just finished lunch. She studied the ground, sniffed the air, licked her lips and finally gave up ... too cold. I don't think she moved off the couch literally all afternoon. Around 7pm she jumped off to shake and loosen her neck and back muscles, then jumped right back on the couch and started her nightly routine.

Finally around 9pm I had to coax her to go outside with Sadie and Stella. She didn't mind that as she sprinted through kitchen to the door and ran to the driveway. She realized she had been holding it too long.

While I flipped back and forth between ballgames, movies and the MLB channel for any last second updates on baseball trades ... she continued to sleep. This photo is my new phone taking one 2x zoom and a tone adjustment.

She does come up for air on occasion. She might walk in a circle, then curl back under the blankets.

It's very important to get those blankets just right to keep her nose warm.

A bloodhound needs her rest after a full day of activity. 

Each time I step out in this field it feels like the whole field is sliding south. I can't recall if the incline was as steep as it is now. I thought I remembered this area being a lot more flat, but it's hard to see in photos from years ago when I had a different group of hounds. Probably just my imagination.

I have found the right clothing combination where I am never cold, even down to single digit wind chill. The hounds never seem to mind and their walks every morning are almost the same ... until today.

Stella was moving in and out of the brush area. I wasn't sure I wanted to leave her behind on a day like this morning. If she were to take off it would be too cold for her if she was gone for 30 minutes or longer.

Sadie was just Sadie ... trying to cover as much ground and as many scents as possible within the 15 minute walk.

I knew at this point in time I was going to have to walk back and get Stella. She was hard to deal with this morning as I had to herd her at least to the first turn and then some more after that.

Even here, I had to nudge her one more time before she made the right hand turn.

I realized this morning as I open up my blog dashboard to write this post that I was at a loss for words. I still am as you can probably tell by what I have typed so far. I'll leave the rest of the photos from this morning's walk. I seem to be very distracted this morning.

I guess the main objective today will be to do some shopping to replenish the food supply. Since the roads are dry and clear, I'll drive the Z4 over to the store for some added fun on the drive. Plus the trunk in that car gives me just enough room to store what I buy which doesn't leave room for a lot of extras but just what I need. It does hold more bags of groceries than you would expect it to.

Yet, another fine day ahead here in 'the tropics' of Southern Indiana.