Super Bowl Sunday Hound Walk

The sun was bright but it was windy, more than usual. I almost thought of taking the walk without the camera today but anymore that Nikon D3200 is part of the walk and part of me whenever I go outside. I never put the shoulder strap back on when it was returned last spring from the Nikon Repair Facility. I like that much better and find no problems carrying it one hand. It seems to fit my right hand like a glove.

Soon after starting the walk today I decided I would try something new ... kind of like a test ... I would not be calling them to "come on", nor would I be calling one or both of them to "get out of there". No, today I was just going to walk and take photos. I wanted to see how they would react.

The first point in the walk that I started wondering what was going to happen was where the deer bed down ... is that the right term? I don't know because I am not a hunter. I could tell from a distance that Stella was really deep in the brush and Sadie was not far behind her. In fact a few minutes later when I arrived, Sadie was the one deep in the brush ... something had caught her interest.

 

You can see Stella just barely to the right of center

This is the bed area of the deer

They took opposite paths toward the treeline but once Stella saw that Sadie had found something she headed for what I call her normal spot. I walked by them not saying a word. I continued walking, turning around at times to take photos ... neither of them had moved, they were enjoying whatever it was they had found.

Only today was different. One, I wasn't saying a word to get them to come to me and two they were not moving no matter how far away I was walking. Sadie would look up at me at times to see where I was and what I was doing. It was Stella that realized she was left alone, that I wasn't around ... she didn't wait on Sadie ... she put her nose to the ground and sprinted, following the path that I had taken.

After taking that last photo of Stella running toward me, I glanced up at Sadie and she was still chowing down on her afternoon snack of something. I was almost 3/4 of the way into the walk and far enough away the 55mm lens setting barely picked her up in the photo.

She then realized that I was not going to call her name and I wasn't going to wait .. if dogs can realize something like that ... some people say they can't. She didn't follow the path that Stella took nor did she put her nose to the ground ... she saw where we were and was going to get to us in the shortest distance and the fastest time possible.

Neither hound had to stop to catch their breath after their run ... they both got on the path and headed home.

Don asked about the high power wire the other day. In past photos you could pick up a part of that tower. I decided today to take a photo of that tower, plus show just how bright, clear and sunny the sky was today a week into February ... will we have 'a winter' this year in 'the tropics' ??

In other news, the more I look at it, the more I have decided I am going to cut the small trees at ground level, tear out that annual ivy that grows out of control only on the upper half of this area. I'll rake the roots out like I did to the piece of ground just to the right of it, last April. Then I will till the ground with a handheld type that has the long handle. This time after I lay grass seed, I am going to cover it in straw, unlike last April. I thought of planting some wild flowers but I've never had luck with that process the times I have tried before. I like the vision of that area being all green grass and that old 75 year fence post always exposed ... along with the roll of barbed wire hanging at the bottom of the post.

This post is showing up sometime during the Super Bowl for a reason. I didn't want to post this at the same time as Heidi's post earlier this afternoon. You might find this different, since I am a self proclaimed football addict ... but I don't like the week before the Super Bowl with all the media hype that has "too much info" in prepping for the Super Bowl every year. Nor do I like watching the "pre-game" analysis the day of the game, leading up to kickoff.

I love the commercials ... I hate the halftime show.

So ... I don't turn the game on until teams are lining up for the opening kickoff. I shut the tv volume either all the way down or the tv off during the halftime show that is becoming longer and longer by the year .. hate it. And I turn off the game as soon as the last play of the game is finished.

I guess this will be the last game we will see Peyton Manning play. Even though he plays for Denver, those of us football fans in Indiana still root for him to do well, except when they play the Colts. His time here  probably saved NFL football for the state of Indiana and definitely increased interest in football from the Pop Warner Leagues up through the High School level of play. Personally I hope it is his last game. I would hate to see him come back next year, and like some other great QB's have and played 1 year too many. No predictions on who wins ... but I would like to see Peyton Manning end his career with a win.

Otherwise, while the Super Bowl 50 is on tv here in 'the tropics' of Southern Indiana ... there is one SURE bet you would win ... all of the hounds will be sleeping during the game and Sadie will likely be snoring through most of it.

Heidi Makes It Out To The Field

..... with help.

After I came back from walking Sadie and Stella, I sat the camera in the chair outside and went in the the house to 'carry' Heidi out to the middle of the field. It was sunny and 53° and I thought it would be great to force her to do something different than bed - living room chair - outside in front of house.

When I sat her down in the field she started wagging her tail and looking around. I figured by the time I walked back to the house to picked up my camera off the chair that she would be right behind me, but she wasn't ... she was still out in the field where I sat her with her nose to the ground, as per Sadie's instructions.

It was great to see that. It's been way too long since she has been that far in the field.

She didn't do much ... she moved slowly ... her tail in a lowered position, wagged slowly back and forth. I thought I was going to catch her tail wagging while I took the next photos but it didn't happen, the camera was just a second off.

It wasn't long before she slowly started to head back to the house. Stella made a last ditch effort to stop her and talk her into staying outside but was not successful ... as she turned the corner by the FJ, she trotted to the door. She decided it had been long enough.

It is something I will continue to do every day when it is not raining or snowing. It is something that has to be done for her. She has to get back to being a basset hound again.

Photos from today's walk will be posted later tonight. After 4 years of blogging on Blogger, I finally figured out why my scheduled posts were not posting. No one said I had to click "Publish" after setting the date and time, instead of "save".

It's been a beautiful day here in 'the tropics' of Southern Indiana today.

A Typical Saturday For The Hounds

First of all, let me know in the comments section or send an email to me ... I'd like to know if there are any issues with the way the blog shows up on your desktop, laptop, phone or tablet. Such as, is it wider than your screen where you have to scroll left to right to see the blog on one page. If it is, I can make some adjustments to the width. Do you find any broken links or maybe older posts where they photos don't show up? Also, let me know of things you would like to see changed or added. I will appreciate any and all kinds of feedback.

When you are retired the isn't a lot of difference in routine between weekends and weekdays. There might be a few differences but I find in the life with the hounds ... nothing changes much. Weekends mean ballgames start earlier. That covers football, basketball and baseball. Therefor with good weather the hounds and I try to get that daily walk in earlier in the day if not try two walks for Saturday and Sunday. 

This morning started with temperatures back in the low 20's. Heavy frost on the ground. It didn't matter to Sadie and Stella ... their noses always go to the ground immediately. They didn't stay out long on that 2nd trip of the day, right after their breakfast. Yet I noticed it was a day they were into ignoring my calls to 'come on'. They were more interested in checking out all the new scents.

I think Stella's new bright orange collar is showing up well in the drab background.

By 11:00 am or so, the temps had moved up close to the 40's, sunny and it was time for a walk. The ground was a little more saturated than it normally is, so certain parts of the path were muddy. I could tell right from the start that deer scent was stronger today just by the speed and action of the bloodhound's paths.

Just after starting they both took off, not waiting for me.

Stella decided today that she would wonder deeper into the wooded areas throughout the walk. There were a few times I wondered if she might take off but as I stepped in that direction to see if she would follow me, she would usually turn and knew she was a little outside her boundary.

When they didn't wait for me before they made that first right hand turn - where the deer hang out - I knew the scents were really strong this morning. Stella had already moved deeper into the bush area than I like ... it makes it too easy for her taking off down into that gully if she thinks something is down there. In one of these photos you can barely see her tail among the bushes.

She then took off running for her next favorite spot. Whatever was there in the wooded area, she did not want to share with Sadie.

They followed the treeline and once we make the turn left we are on the 2nd half of the walk, heading for home.

Only today on the way back, Stella decided whatever she found on the way out was good enough to go back and check again. You can barely see her standing by one of the trees. In that area there is a place flattened, so deer do sleep there at times.

She doesn't look happy that she has to stop her exploring and head back down the path to the house.

Her and Sadie found one more thing to check out before they finished their walk.

As you can tell the daily walk doesn't deviate much in scenery or different action shots. It's midwinter, the trees are bare and drab. Very little color to add to the photos while in the field. It could be worse though, at least we are not buried in white snow.

Not much will be happening the rest of the day. It's a full afternoon and night of college basketball, some book reading between the games I want to see and I am sure about the time I post this, Stella will be howling for lunch and will try to get Heidi's bark to join her. Yes, it's that time of day again.

It's a lazy Saturday here in 'the tropics' of Southern Indiana.