The Hounds Proved They're Great Watchdogs

I'll warn you right now, this post is going to be a long one. It has to be for me to tell the story. So if you have the time to read it, you might want to grab something to drink or something to nibble on. Even Blogger might decide on it's own that this will be a two page post.

My hounds proved they are great watchdogs and defenders. The story I am about to tell is real. It might have happened on the night of April Fools Day but it was officially Sunday morning based on the time and it wasn't a joke.

Let me set the scene by reminding you that I live in what I call a rural area but nothing like some of you that might live on actual ranches out West or large farms in the Midwest. Yet my four neighbors, houses I can see, are  a good 200 feet or more away. One house is empty, one is now a childcare business and my two neighbors to the north are far enough way a spoken word cannot be heard.

Some of them have security lights, with a couple of them streaming a little light inside my house when all of my lights are turned off. I live 100 feet from a major highway up on a hill. Traffic noise doesn't bother me and the later it gets the less traffic there is. Some of the newer headlights of oncoming traffic do reflect into the house through the large picture window I have in the kitchen. Those really are not a problem.

Due to staying up until 4am Saturday morning or Friday night, listening to music (just one more song) at concert level volume being played through my Apple Earbuds (don't want to wake the hounds) played a small factor in my condition. Without a Saturday afternoon siesta in preparation for a late college basketball game I knew I was going to by tired before midnight.

With a basketball game with slopping play and millions of missed three point shots, was too much of a reminder of what I had watched a lot of times here in Indiana for the past 9 years. Thankfully they fired the coach a few weeks ago and I was more than thrilled with that .... yet Indiana basketball is not part of the story ... the the 2nd game on Saturday night is a small factor ... I lost interest and went to bed at halftime of the game.

That last part is a big factor in this story.

For as long as I can remember I have always been able to sleep soundly in any condition, any time of day or night and in any place that I have room to lay down. "Soundly" is the key word in all of that ... basically it has to be "something" to wake me up.

That "something" happened sometime after midnight or close to 1am, not sure.

As I woke up I caught a light moving over my bedroom wall. I thought it was strange but then again, I had been in a deep sleep and was still groggy. I would prefer it to be pitch black at all times but the neighbor's lights are not that big of deal since they don't shine that bright. I brushed it off as on coming traffic and thought I was going back to sleep ... I never got up.

There it is again ... bright light shooting across the top of the wall ... so I laid there waiting to hear possibly a large semi truck driving by 100 feet below on the highway.

That sound never came ... nor did the hounds wake up ... the house was so quiet I could hear my ears ringing, probably from the loud music the night before.

As I laid their in the darkness of the bedroom, half asleep and mentally not able to decipher what was taking place ... the light got brighter and larger. My mind told me it must be some lost soul pulling up my driveway for some weird reason and it was headlights from their car.

That couldn't be it ... I don't even have people pull into the driveway in the daytime let alone in the middle of the night when it's really dark outside. Why would they do that when the house did not have any lights on ???

There was one problem with that groggy analysis ....

If someone is driving up my driveway in the dark, they are not only 80 feet or so in the opposite direction of my bed but the angle of the driveway would shine their headlights into the woods in the direction of my blog infamous burn pile. AWAY from my bedroom wall.

Still ... not a sound out of the hounds ... so everything must be okay and no need to get up. I rolled over on my side and attempted to go to sleep.

That is until my house lit up like the 1977 movie some of us might have watched called "Close Encounters of a Third Kind".

I'm serious ... that is just how bright the inside of my house became and I am instantly in the "WTF" mode. My built in adrenalin pump turned on so fast the meter faceplate broke from the needle going over the maximum 100%. My brain is processing information faster than any of the latest built computer and I am moving into a "fight or flight" mode.

As a reminder, let me stress that my brain activity was moving faster than the speed of light trying to put all the pieces to this puzzle together. My pulse rate was off the charts, my brain was on running the speed of sound ... at the same time I am mentally groggy.

Not a sound from my three sleeping hounds.

Since I did not hear any sounds of breaking glass or doors trying to be opened I mentally moved from my Option A to Option B. Let's just say that whoever or whatever "it was" they should be thrilled Option A was not chosen. I was too actually.

About the time I quietly slowly climbed out of bed so I could glance around the door jam of my open bedroom door ... to see what in the *&#$@%&$ was lighting my house enough you would have swore there was a UFO was sitting outside in my carport ...

Sadie and Stella woke up and charged from the living room where they were sleeping in FULL ATTACK MODE !!!!

The bloodhound with kind eyes, a greying muzzle, and always begging for walks (Sadie) was in the kitchen barking as if she was ready to tear off every arm and leg of the intruder(s).

Stella was barking in an aggressive way while slipping in her Hall of Fame quality howling (baying) non-stop.

Whoever it was or whatever it was did not move even with the loud out of control noise by the attacking bloodhounds. Heidi??? She was still sound to sleep ... nothing bothers her between the hours of 2pm - 8am unless she smells, sees, or hears food.

Mentally it finally dawned on me that for whatever reason someone was not only at my house but they were intentionally shinning bright lights into my house. I grabbed a pair of jeans to pull on and decided to take a chance and show myself.

Was I about to be robbed?

As I turned to walk out the bedroom door into the bright lights I see a face looking in my door window. Lights from a flashlight were still inside the house. The hounds were still going ballistic barking ... my pulse rate was still around 300 beats per minute .... I still wasn't sure if I needed to be in the fighting mode. I was still perplexed enough that I did not turn on the kitchen lights.

As I approached the door I did not even turn on the carport lights ... I can only assume I was still in slight shock and confusion.

As I opened the inside door, Sadie and Stella stopped their barking and howling ... they sat quietly looking out the window of the screen door as I stepped outside.

By their voices I could tell there were two people but I could only see one of them. He was a young man from my small towns finest, dressed in a blue uniform ... with a black bulletproof vest and the word 'Police" in bright white letters on his chest.

All I could think of was "WTF" ?????

Now, due to the amount of time since this happened I may not be completely accurate on the conversation word for word but I do remember the most important parts of what took place.

I remember telling them "you scared the living shit out of me" ... I think I remember a short apology.

Their introduction started by asking "are you Steve" ... now before I answer this question my mind instantly thought of the worst case scenario. There would not be any reason for it ... but for about TWO SECONDS I imagined I was on my way of making CNN News by being falsely accused, cuffed and taken away in the backseat of their police car. Strange eh?

I answered "yes I am" while really wondering what this was all about and what was next. I could only guess after this adrenalin rush I had experienced, that either someone in my family had been in an accident or I was about to be questioned about a crime.

Maybe it is because I have watched too many Jason Bourne movies, or movies about detectives and crime mysteries that would make me think I could be in the process of being "questioned" about something.

There is another reason though and it really did happen.

I'll try to not get too far off the path of this blog post with this next short story but it also might possibly explain this paranoid feeling I am having sometime near 1am while standing in my carport with two of "the cities finest".

It is a personal experience I had many years ago. It was a sunny day in 1972 as a young 20 year old US Marine, downtown Oceanside California where this took place. It was almost as shocking as last night and in a way just as mentally confusing with the same amount of adrenalin ... which leads to a thought as weird as "about to be questioned about a crime".

While being stationed at Camp Pendleton in 1972, we didn't get paid a lot of money then. I lived in the barracks, did not have a car nor did I need one. I was going to be there for my short two year enlistment with plans of going back to college on the GI Bill, something that pays for 4 years of college tuition.

So I was using public transportation when I needed to go somewhere and saving close to every cent I was making by living in the barracks. One of the cheapest forms of entertainment besides living on the beach soaking up the sun in Oceanside California ... was going to the movies.

This particular Saturday afternoon I stepped outside the movie theater a block off of Hill St., the main street that went through town. I was blinded by the bright sunshine instead of bright lights ... and before I knew it ... I was being slammed down into the sidewalk with my face being introduced to hard concrete.

Unlike last night ... I had zero time to think or process what was going on ... it happened that fast.

As "Oceanside's finest" was helping me stand up and holding me up as my hands were cuffed behind my back ... a 2nd squad car pulled up in front of me ... while being totally confused, pissed off and some blood running down my face ... the back door window of the 2nd police car rolled down.

The young face of a girl appeared in the window ... she quietly told the policemen "No ... that's not him".

I was off the hook for something. I was never questioned. The reputation of the Oceanside Police at that time in the early 1970's was not the best ... especially to young Marines stationed a few miles away at Camp Pendleton. Therefore no apologies were needed but at least they were kind enough to off those *&#@$@ handcuffs ... besides my sore face, my arms felt like they had been ripped out of my shoulder sockets.

So maybe now you understand where I am coming from being slightly paranoid while standing in the dark somewhere between Midnight and 1am, being asked by the kid wearing "Police" on his chest  ... if my name is Steve.

The next question even confused this situation more but at the same time took me more toward that 'crime' idea instead of a 'family member' idea.

What might that be?

"Do you know someone named Gerald" ???

Holy shit ... I am 64 years old, I just received my new Medicare Card in the mail and I have met a LOT of people in my time ... but at NO TIME have I ever known someone named Gerald. I cannot even remember that name brought up in almost 65 years worth of conversations ...

Is this a dream? An April Fools Joke? .... all I wanted to do was catch up on my sleep ... what is this all about????

The 2nd police officer, the guy I had not seen yet while he stood off in the background in the dark, told me to "hold on a second" as he headed toward the police car to double check that name. I had told told them I didn't know a Gerald nor have ever met a Gerald.

When he came back and said "no, his name is ....", it was my old friend from college. A friend of 42 years that lives a 100 miles away and someone I had been talking to by text just 1-1/2 hour earlier. I guess you could say in a way that I had caused all of this ... only because I had broken the routine of a known night person, one that a lot of people know stays up in the late hours where night is slowly moving toward daybreak. I had gone to bed before midnight, a very rare occurrence.

More than that ... I had not been around during an important basketball game and that is just too strange because he knows and his wife knows "steve never misses a ballgame, ever"

I had been texting him during the first game as he and his wife were returning home. Once the 2nd game started and I saw from his last text that they were home and would be watching some of the 2nd game, I set my iPhone on the kitchen island and plugged it in to be recharged.

Combine that by sneaking off to bed at halftime of the 2nd game, somewhere around 11pm ... the lack of response on texting raised their curiosity. Then when they called me and didn't get an answer ... red flags shot up in their brain cells faster than you can imagine.

Let see ... Steve never misses a game, he always replies to text and there have been no replies to 15 different texts during the 2nd game, plus he did not answer the phone. He lives alone and the hounds cannot call 911 if needed ... could have something really have happened to him??

I admit that I still refuse to believe that it is really me that stares back at me in the mirror when I brush my teeth or shave. That has to be someone else because I definitely don't think that old, nor do I feel that old ... but I am at the age that something could happen at any time, I guess.

I will admit I have thought of that and came up with a Plan B for the hounds just in case that does happen.

Since they did not have phone numbers of any of my neighbors, nor my family members ... nor do they know them ... they had enough curiosity to look up my 'cities finest' online to get their phone number I assume and made the call.

As the police officer explained, my friend had called and was concerned that possibly something may have happened to me. He told them I had two cars and if both were there meant I was home. He also warned them that I had two very large dogs (Sadie and Stella) that might get excited and sound mean but they were not mean dogs and wouldn't hurt them. He also said I had basset hounds ... plural.

So those flashlights that were as bright as a UFO in the driveway, and shining inside my house, were looking for me to see if I was okay. They were very understanding, as they say in basketball "no harm no foul" ... they said they were happy everything worked out. I am sure they may have felt some anxiety as they drove up the driveway of a house with all the lights turned off.

I guess I'll have to admit I am that old man staring back at me in the mirror.

Why?

Well back in January when I took a few weeks off blogging here, I also had stopped posting a photo or two of the hounds on Facebook almost every day. I hadn't called anyone, nor texted anyone. No one had heard from me online, via the phone or in person.

I was later told by another long time friend that lives quite a ways from me ... she had almost called my local police department to have them come out and check on me to see if I was okay. She had asked other people in Indiana that knew both of us, to get in touch with me since she lived a few states away, to see if anything had happened to me. When she didn't get an answer from them, she was that close to calling my small town police.

Luckily she decided to send a text to me instead, asking "are you okay" ... where I sent a reply.

So no police that time ... hopefully if it would have happened, it would have been during the normal daylight hours.

So that's the long story of my most exciting event possibly in the 19 years I have lived here. I hadn't been that adrenaline'ized' since I heard the knock on the front door at 2:30 AM a few seconds I had turned off the lights to go to bed, just last summer .... but that's another story and maybe a different blog post in the future.

Well I have to go. The hounds are begging to be fed their lunch kibble. Due to their great work last night of alerting me and challenging the intruders, I'll slip a few more bits of kibble into their dishes, even for that 'sleep monster' Heidi.

It WAS actually good to see that I have some pretty good watchdogs if the shit was ever to hit the fan, so to speak. Living in a rural area, next to a highway that can get someone to the interstate fairly quickly, I have always had a Plan B if anything were to happen. After all they have never caught the bank deposit robbers from years ago ... just a half mile away.

Nor have they ever found the girl that disappeared a few years ago, last seen in the parking lot of the grocery store ... just a half mile away.

So, I think it's always best to be aware, and may be good to have some big angry dogs just in case ... yet not live in fear.

The hounds and I enjoy living in 'the tropics' of southern Indiana.

Sadie's Hit With Excitement Today

You would have never expected 'high energy' after looking back at Stella as we started our morning walk. By the time she finished scratching and sprinting, yes sprinting, past me to catch Sadie ... Sadie was already on a scent of some sort. She was really excited, to the point I had to be on the lookout for what she had found.

She took off on a full out run as soon as she stepped one foot in the field. I glanced for deer, cats, birds, really anything that would cause her to charge through the thick thorn bushes and down into the gully.

What was interesting, I didn't see anything ... but she apparently did.

While Stella was more interested in indulging in her morning natural protein with some deer flavor add, Sadie was running back and forth along the edge of the field and bushes. A couple of times she ran into the thick bushes and backed herself out.

By her actions I assumed it was a smaller animal that had been through this area and not deer. Who knows, it could have been the big blonde cat we saw yesterday over by the neighbor's wooded area.

I had to double back today to get Stella to move in our direction. By the time I walked up to her she was in the process of eating good old dirt ... wet mud. Like any hound breed, once they raise their mouth from whatever they are eating .... sometimes residue is hanging in their drool on both sides of their mouths.

I was hoping to catch those leaves hanging in midair on each side of her mouth but she took off running about the time I clicked the shudder.

When I thought both hounds were heading to the far right corner, Sadie made an immediate left and took off sprinting again. She was running at max speed ... Stella headed the opposite direction. I had two hounds that were locked in on scents in opposite directions. Once I saw Stella head down into the gully and disappear from my view that is the direction I chose.

As I kept an eye on Sadie while I was trotting toward Stella's direction ... Sadie was so excited in what she had found she couldn't slow down. In this area I am pretty sure we are talking deer traffic and a lot of them.

She can smell them, maybe even hear them, but I doubt that she can see them. I saw nothing on the horizon when I looked in the same direction as Sadie was.

She heads back to retrace her steps, maybe to find some answers.

Then turned immediately back in the opposite direction because they have to be there somewhere. As they say, "she was beside herself". {I know the period should go inside the quote mark but to me it punctuation looks better after the quote mark}  :)

Since the pictures of Sadie above were taken so quickly in sequence, I was able to get over to Stella as she had moved back into view, just barely. By the time I was halfway to her she also turned in the opposite direction heading down into the gully out of my view. I thought she was gone so I started running faster while yelling her name.

Luckily about the time I got within 30' from where she disappeared, she popped back into view and started her slow stroll toward me with a look on her face as if she was questioning what was I yelling for ... in her head, everything was good.

Not a second after I took that picture of Stella ... Sadie rammed into the back of my knee. It's her way to let me know that she is back and that she didn't run away. She has been doing that since was a 3 month old puppy.

She and Stella trotted along the edge of the back field and turned to join me as I headed home.

Since the theme of the morning seemed to be 'run as far ahead of him as possible' ... they both took off running along the path and were almost in the backyard by the time I caught up with them.

Makes you wonder what all the excitement was about.

It could have been that we started our day extremely late today. That is what happens when you stay up until 4am playing music while saying "just one more". It was not just one album I was listening too but a wide range of songs from U2, Eric Clapton, The Eagles, Steve Earle, Lyle Lovett, Pearl Jam, Neil Young ... and other's on and on.

It wasn't until late afternoon when I finally decided what kind of food I'd have to carry me through two Final Four games tonight and the championship games on Monday night. In between that would be MLB baseball games on Sunday and Monday afternoons.

The possible problem was by the time I made the decision and pulled out of the driveway I had about an hour and half before the game started. With traffic my 25 mile round trip would be close to tip off time by the time I got back.

The hounds are always happy when I come back with a trunk full of groceries. They think all food is theirs so they have to inspect every bag I carry from the car to the kitchen. Once I start eating in front of the tv, Sadie assumes her normal position under the coffee table waiting for any possible drops to the floor or a quick underhand serving of something.

Heidi and Stella will sit to the right of my waiting for that first tortilla chip.

Well I am off for a quick hound walk during halftime of the game. It's been beautiful weather today here in 'the tropics' of southern Indiana.

The Hounds Don't See Everything

I was really sorry to hear that two online friends, fellow bloggers and hound owners had to make the hardest decision of all for their two daschunds. Hopefully their memories of all the great times they had with their dogs will get them through this period of sadness.

I can't say much was planned for today here for the hounds and I. Another week has flown by and in a way it's really hard to believe we are a day away from the month of April. Since I cannot find the steel 5" long hinge pin for my mower that I lost last November while mowing the yard for the last time of the year, I headed to the local hardware store.

I'd started by filling up a bag of free popcorn from their old style popcorn machine, walked around adding things to a future shopping list on my iPhone as I ate the popcorn. Just to make sure I headed toward their back shop where they repair any kind of lawn equipment. I thought there might be a chance they had the same pin in their stock for different mowers. I hope to mow the complete yard by next Wednesday before the rains show up.

With the weather last night I wasn't sure if a walk this morning was even a possibility. There was a lot of rain last night, still showing some spots of standing water, but after Sadie gave the field an early morning inspection she let me know the field was walkable.

Cold at 50°, windy but with waterproof hiking boots and a jacket on, it was a nice time to walk. With the recent rains, things are really getting green again and growing fast.

Surprise ... surprise ... look who is out near the front of the pack. Stella even ran a little bit today and didn't "mope" through the entire walk.

Anytime Stella veered off course or lagged behind, Sadie made sure that Stella got back on course. Running to get her wasn't needed today ... just that stare and some mental telepathy.

Without a word Stella moved back to Sadie's direction.

The deer scent was so strong today that both bloodhounds not only walked into the heavy bushes, but Sadie was almost ready to go down the embankment after them. She popped back out into the field when I yelled "No" but Stella still needed to check out a few things before she moved.

By their activity, once again I could tell just how much deer traffic there had been this morning. Yet, I was to find out later that deer scent would not be the most exciting thing on this walk.

Sadie was on her fast pace along the edge of the field. I was keeping track of Stella to make sure she stayed to the left and not go right into the gully area.

Very focused on what she is finding.

But Sadie still had time to tell Stella to get her ass in gear.

Then again ... Stella started to move and join Sadie on the walk without me saying a word.

I am sure the added wind this morning also flipped up more scent than normal for them to investigate. Stella was more interested in scent today rather than her normal natural protein supplements.

We had just turned the corner to head back home on the final leg of the walk when I noticed something on the horizon, near the neighbor's wooded area where Stella has so much interest in.

Whatever it was, it was huge and it was moving. It looked just like that unidentifiable object that Stella was chasing a few months ago into the woods.

It's the huge field cat I see sometimes at night when I pull into the driveway. Or it might be a neighbor's cat, I don't know. What ever, that is one big cat.

Would either hound notice?  If so they would be gone in a second. There is an 'escape' something in the wooded area where the cat got away once before.

So far so good. Neither hound had noticed the cat, nor smelled the cat. I quietly urged them to follow me on the path. Saying "come on" as many times as it took for them to walk next to me away from the direction of the cat.

Stella never veered off the path and Sadie walked to my right ... close call. I didn't know if I had enough speed today to be chasing two bloodhounds out of control. At least I know there is a cat in the area and can keep a look out for it on future walks.

Again the concern is always ... chasing an animal that leads the bloodhounds to the highway. You never know what a dog or cat will do when there is a hot pursuit from behind them. So even if they would get some great aerobic exercise chasing the cat in the field, you never know if that is where the cat will stay. With deer you have a pretty good idea they are headed for the woods.

I am feeling pretty good about starting my 'to do' list on Tuesday after college basketball is over the previous night. I could start on Monday but it's "Opening Day" for major league baseball so I will probably be couch bound most of the day watching baseball and then that night for the NCAA championship game in basketball.

There is a lot to get done this spring and summer, much more than last year. Time will tell how much blogging I do during that time. I won't stop blogging but it may not happen on a daily basis.

The hounds are good here in 'the tropics' of southern Indiana.

The Storm Fizzled Out !!

If I had received that tornado warning from the local tv weatherman or even one of the major national news channels, I would accuse them of creating false drama to drive up ratings. So I am going to play 'weatherman' now and officially say the storm 'fizzled out' and I have seen better thunderstorms than what has taken place these past two hours.

It started a little after 6pm and it wasn't anything to brag about. I had the screen door open that looks out into the carport from the kitchen. Sadie sat there and watched it while Stella and Heidi were sleeping. It rained hard off and on but nothing major. I kept looking on Intellicast radar and it just didn't look bad a few states over or to the southwest.

The winds were not even strong enough to rattle the storm windows. I sat here watching it while playing Mahjong.

This was about as bad as it got. That's nothing compared to what I have seen in the past.

Even the car cover did not flap in the wind like it would if it was major wind.

I was just a few minutes past 8pm when I caught a glimpse of sun coming through the kitchen window. I grabbed my camera, told the hounds to "stay here" and went outside to grab some shots of the sunset.

Not until I walked to the back to see how much standing water I had did I see a small rainbow above the field we walk through.

So with a sky like this, in my un-professional opinion I am going to declare the tornado warning was overkill and is over 2 hours earlier than planned.

I am sure like other states, there is a saying ... "if you don't like the weather in Indiana just wait a few hours and it will change".

All is good here in 'the tropics' of southern Indiana.