Super Bowl Sunday

I finished my book around 1am and headed for bed expecting great weather today. I woke up to a bright sky full of sunshine, mild temps headed for the 50's so things were off to a good start.

Same routine as always. Sadie decided to check the air temp with her tongue. Not many can touch their nose with their tongue, but she finds it quite easy.

It's Super Bowl Sunday but I cannot say the excitement I had years ago is there today. I have not listen or read about any of the pre-game hype for the past two weeks. I'll not turn on the tv until right at kick-off. As far as the food plan for today and tonight ... wow, that has really changed in the past couple of years. It use to be an eating feast.

It was my own personal decision to change my diet and non-stop eating during ballgames. I needed to lose some pounds but wasn't obese. I mainly wanted to stop the constant indigestion and stop my addiction to straight original blend Pepsi. In the past Super Bowl Sunday's it would have been non-stop eating starting with a breakfast of a 3 egg omelet loaded with cheeses, mushrooms, a little onion and cilantro. While I would eat that my first large waffle would be cooking.

I'd have at least two them and most likely three, heavy on the butter, peanut butter and thick syrup. Although my hunger would be gone that didn't mean I'd stop eating. By noon college basketball games would be on with the Super Bowl to be later in the afternoon and then evening when the NFL decided they could make more money by showing the game later.

So even with a full stomach from the large breakfast, a walk with the hounds and for me ... I would move into the lunch mode a few hours later with all the chips, dips, meats, breads, baked beans, potato and macaroni salads I could set out on the kitchen island. It was a constant eating fest during the afternoon.

By late afternoon and getting closer to the main attraction I would start thinking about the dinner menu even though I was stuffed to the gills. I may have had a siesta to prepare for not only a 4 hour game but more eating throughout the evening. The grill would be fired up with plans of steak or salmon, sometimes both. It was a full day and night of food consumption.

Plus I couldn't watch a game without chips, salsa, cheese dip along with Pepsi throughout the afternoon and night. I would also eat that way every Saturday watching college football in the fall.

But in May 2015 I made a self imposed drastic diet change and eliminated my indigestion problems immediately. I also lost 20 pounds, 3" off my jean size and the mucus that was always a constant sinus issue was gone. So compared to all I have just listed for meals in the past, this year it looks like I will do what I did last year.

An egg, one slice of wheat toast for breakfast along with my normal two cups of strong coffee. A large salad for lunch and then dinner before the kickoff will be either baked chicken breast, brown rice and salad or salmon instead of chicken. Pepsi is no longer a staple in the refrigerator and drinking ice cold water seems to have filled in nice as a substitute.

Overall we had a great morning walk this morning. The weather was great. Sadie got a lot of running in, more than she normally does. Of course Stella wasn't around. Today Stella ended up going to far and put herself on double secret probation.

As I glanced back toward the house I saw Stella had moved out to her new normal spot. I continued to walk, Sadie continued to run back to me and then circling the middle of the field. She was having a great time.

It changed for Stella though and something I wasn't happy with but not surprised. I knew eventually she would head for the wooded area behind the neighbor's house. It may not seem like much different but if she goes that far, she will gradually move that limit out further and further.

I called her name while I walked. She would look up at me and then back to the ground. But today she kept walking slowly toward the woods and she looked like she was further away and closer to the highway but not even close to the highway. I guess I want to say, she was further away from me than she usually was.

I was pretty sure when I saw her migrating to the woods that I would have to attach the leash to her. It was folded inside my pocket.

As we walked toward her I wasn't happy about this situation. Especially as she would look up at me, hear me calling her and then keep walking more toward the woods.

Sadie and I veered toward her, still calling her name. Believe it or not, she started walking toward me slowly. I was beginning to think the leash was not going to be needed and that she would walk right up to me ... yea right.

Then typical Stella ... actually somewhat funny ... about the time she walked up to me with the leash still inside my jacket pocket ... she turned and started to walk away.

That is when I pulled the leash out, connected it to her collar and dropped it to the ground. She walked beside me all the way back home. Sadie in the was on her own and made it back home before I did.

I am going to start another book and probably read until the Super Bowl. It's hard to believe it is the 51st game. Time flies I guess when you are having fun.

Headed for warmer weather here in 'the tropics' of southern Indiana.

A Beautiful Saturday Morning

The day started with one of the strangest dreams I've had in a while. Maybe it was because it woke me up, but I remembered a few of the details of the dream.

It was so strange because I was confused why I needed to go to a job from 25 years ago. I was late for work and couldn't figure out why I was even going to work, since I thought I was retired.

I had some of my past hounds playing in the house with none of them being bloodhounds. It was so weird to see the old Winston wrestling with himself as a puppy. The other two basset hounds were laying in the sunshine sleeping and I was still trying to figure out why I was going to work if I was retired. Had something changed?

So I was more than happy to open my eyes to see Sadie standing next to the bed staring at me at eye level with that look she has every morning "I have to go outside". The bedroom was so full of sunshine I had no idea what time it was and from the dream I wasn't even sure that day it was. To say I was confused would be a compliment. I knew I needed coffee and I needed it as fast as possible.

I could tell it was extremely cold outside as I changed into my clothes, because the storm windows were covered with frozen ice. As I walked through the kitchen to let the hounds outside, my iPhone weather app told me it was 13° with hopes of getting all the way up to 38 by this afternoon.

The hounds made their normal first trip outside while I poured their breakfast kibble. Once inside Heidi sprints for her bowl, Stella starts howling with excitement and Sadie goes into her hopping up and down routine ... to bad that exercise does not help her lose weight.

I have to have both of their bowls of food sitting high on a shelf because I cannot have them on the floor when they walk in ... each bloodhound will do anything to eat both bowls of food. Yet, they never both Heidi or her bowl of food.

By 10:30am it was up to 21° although the 'feels like' was only 9°. A perfect time for a walk.

The field was covered with frost, the air was crisp but it did not feel as cold as 9°, in fact it felt a little warmer than yesterday's morning walk. With the down parka and ski gloves I was very warm.

I would really like to find out what is buried so deep inside those frozen leaves and grass that Stella and Sadie find so interesting. The times I have walked to where they have their noses plastered to the ground, I don't find anything most of the time.

Sadie turned one last time to see if Stella was coming and then took off for her walk. She is the perfect hound for walking. She keeps up, still wanders off following her nose, yet never falls too far behind ... and will come when called. Even Winston use to lag way behind at his own pace and at times in June before they baled the field he would get no further than the corner of the house barking the whole time we were gone. I still miss that hound a lot.

At this point I am almost to the corner of the field where we veer right. I could tell by Stella's lack of movement it was be the same for her as it has been the past week or so. She will not get as far as the first corner and will walked toward the neighbor's wooded area without heading our direction.

An interesting leaf ... makes me want those 100° days in July.

The cold weather had energized Sadie. She was running everywhere and at times faster than I could keep her in the view finder of the camera. The camera caught this strange stance ... she was actually moving at the time.

She tracked a lot of area today but never stayed long whenever she stopped.

In the meantime there was still no sign of Stella as she was off in her own little world.

Hard to believe I walked into the same pile of frozen dirt causing me to stumble forward with the same sore toe from previous accidents. I was still able to hang onto the camera and decided it might be time to move back to the steel toe hiking boots in our next walks.

As I was about to make the final turn toward home, look who I see up on the horizon staring right back at me. Does she come when I call her name ... not a chance. She went right back to eating deer scat.

Sadie decided to go check on Stella without me saying a word today. I kept walking and knew I'd have to walk over to Stella before she would move. I can't say that I am a big fan of her recent routine and can't wait for it to change.

I kept calling her name as I got closer. I might as well kept my mouth shut from the response she was giving me. Not until I got within a foot of her, did she left her head and walked over to me. I guess she expected me to hook her up to the leash, but I never took it out of my pocket.

It didn't matter what she was doing, at least the morning was beautiful with bright sunshine, clear blue skies and higher temps on the way.

The highway in this picture is a lot further away from her than the picture shows. I'd guess Stella is about half way between the highway and the path I am on ... that's a lot of field between us.

I don't care for Sycamore trees in general but this one is still nice to me. I had two more like it on the bank along the driveway until the straight-line winds pulled them out of the ground like weeds in June 2008. After they fell they covered all of my front yard.

When the ground is really saturated and winds get up in the 60mph range I wonder if that tree will fall like the others did. I hope not because if it fell due north like the others, that will be right down the center of the house.

It might be time this summer to have a crew come in and trim the top 25% off but I always hate seeing that happen to trees. If you look at the far right tree you will notice it does not go as high as the other 3 limbs.

The top of that limb was struck by lightning in that 2008 windstorm and fell onto the corner of my carport. It was long enough to be sitting on the ground at an angle, damaging the corner of the house and a good 6' above the roof.

By the time I almost to the house, the hounds were happy to go inside where they instantly fell asleep, which will last until lunch kibble is served.

No plans today but continue reading my books. I guess I should start giving some of the books I read a title and author. I guess today I will take the chance of hearing some sort of backlash and tell you what I am reading. In today's world on social media, phone calls with old friends or those that have family dinners ... hardly anything can be discussed anymore about current events without an argument starting.

So the book I started reading yesterday afternoon and couldn't put down, forcing myself to turn off the lights and go to bed at 3am is by Roger Stone -- "The Making of the President 2016". It's a great book and shows just how close it was to having a different result in this years election, plus all the action behind the scenes you never read about.

I tried to head a different direction in subject matter yesterday in the library, but I pulled this off the 'new' book shelf. After this is finished sometime today or tonight, I'll flip into an old John Grisham novel for a change of pace. I still have plenty of books on my personal bookshelves that have never been read, yet some have been read three or four times.

No plans today except reading and another late afternoon hound walk. Did you like two posts in one day or prefer one long post showing up in the 6-7pm range?

I have stated in previous blog posts that I am a football addict but it's the same this year as many years before ... I don't watch nor read anything about the upcoming Super Bowl. I'll not turn my tv on until the exact time for kickoff and will not only turn down the sound but will turn the tv off at halftime of the game. I really wish we could separate sports and politics.

I figure by Monday I will be back at the library to turn in the two books I have now and search for more reading material. I am addicted to reading right now. Any suggestions for good books to read, any of your favorites?

I am happy and the hounds are happy today in 'the tropics' of southern Indiana.

Hounds Get A Second Walk In Today

Surprise, this is my 2nd post today.

I had no doubt the hounds would get their 2nd walk in today. They always get two but lately the afternoon walk has Stella leashed, so no camera is taken.

Today I wanted to take some photos and hid the leash in my pocket just in case Stella became so stubborn where she wouldn't move. It was not planned but I ended up taking most of these pictures today at 200mm lens setting.

Like I said, I am going to have to find another dog food for Stella because recently she has been scratching more than she ever has. Does that mean it's the food or something else? Maybe the food is okay.

This is the tree I spoke of this morning. The high winds blew it over in February 2009. The sound of the tree snapping made it over quite a distance to the house, through closed windows, over the loud noise of the winds, plus the volume of the tv. The limb that is being stripped of its bark is the lower left, barely visible.

Stella was showing some great motivation this afternoon, attempting to keep up with Sadie and I. Something to consider, almost all of these photos were taken with the lens set at 200mm, so it's not like she was that close to us.

She was moving right along until she stopped and faced toward the wooded area behind the neighbors house. Looking through the view finder I could see her nostrils moving and thought she might take off sprinting any second.

She stood that way for a couple of minutes while I tried to decide whether to pull the 6' standard leash out of my pocket and prevent a sudden change in schedule of our walk. I decided not to put her on a leash and see what happens.

What a shock to see her start walking toward us. But that didn't mean she had lost all curiosity. She had not walked 10' when she stopped again to look in that same direction where she was so curious.

In the meantime Sadie had moved ahead of both of us and was enjoying running around the field. Once Stella saw that Sadie had found something, she ran to catch up ... there was no way Sadie was going to get something that Stella would miss out on.

I continued my walk to the back edge of the field. Turning to check the hounds, Stella had not moved. Remember all of these pictures this afternoon are 200mm zoom.

Sadie had found a new spot, one that she did not want to share.

I am not sure what these are but I can assure you that when the ground is frozen with temps in the 20's, where you might not be paying attention as you walk in soft toe shoes, they feel like a concrete wall when your foot accidentally hits them. They don't break either. Luckily I didn't drop the camera as I stumbled.

Another one just in case I missed the first one.

I'm on my way back and the hounds have not moved.

And they won't move either ... no matter how close I get or if I walk past them.

Finally they decided they were finished and were ready to get home. Both of them came running past me, only to stay on the path and slow their pace to a slow walk.

A whole field to walk in and they have to walk in front of me, slowing up my pace.

Sadie had one more thing to check out before she officially finished her walk. For some strange reason, Stella had sprinted ahead and was waiting at the house.

It was good to feel my 18-20 hour digestive problem was gone today. I felt good enough to load the car with the one 32gl container of recycled stuff and head to the recycling center. I needed another supply of books so I stopped in and picked up an old novel by John Grisham and another political book off of the "New" shelf. The Grisham book will be my first book with large print (LP).

I did think more about starting a new Wordpress blog when I sat down at my computer. The thought of a different subject blog flew through the brain cells for a nano-second and then the urge for any new blog immediately disappeared.

I think its more of wanting to play around designing a new website or blog, more than starting a new subject to write on.

The hounds are sleeping in the sunshine that has warmed the house up. They always like a nap after a walk.

Nothing else to report from the 'the tropics' of southern Indiana.