Sadie Excited Stella Isn't

I think you will be able to tell the difference between the photos that were taken in the mid-afternoon compared to those late morning. We had no plans of walking anytime anywhere before mid-afternoon. By that time the temperature had climbed to 15° and with bright sunshine it felt warmer. Stella did not agree.

It was still 6° and a wind chill below zero when Sadie and Stella went out a little after 10am to dump their tanks. Their trip was a little longer trip than yesterday but only by a minute ... but the time I took that picture of Sadie running they were back inside the house within 2 minutes and 18 seconds.

I never had to call either one because it was just that cold.

I needed to go to town for a new bag of dog food if I was going to have enough kibble for their lunch. Since I did not want to shovel my driveway outside the carport, I drove the FJ back and forth mashing down snow deeper than suspected. With that nice ice base at the bottom, I was stuck .. until I went into low 4wheel drive.

So with Sadie's constant begging to go out for a walk by staring me down, I spent my time looking  at houses for sale in Arizona and New Mexico on a different site that listed more houses than the two websites I was using in the past. I found that Trulia's listings to be much more accurate and was showing more houses with the same search parameters.

By 2:30pm I was just as excited as Sadie to get outside and attempt a walk. Our tracks from a couple of day ago were still there but almost buried by either new snow or the wind had blown snow to the point of drifting along our path.

I could tell that Stella may not be up for a walk but Sadie was 100% wired for a half miler.

She pulled stuff out of the snow, she chased birds, ran and chased more birds. She obviously did not agree with the wind chill factor readings.

We weren't 5 minutes into the walk when I saw this. That infamous raised rear paw of Stella's. I never try to force her to walk any further when I see this ... except returning home.

Let's just say her pace was faster walking toward the house than it was away from the house.

Sadie in the mean time was unaware we had called off the walk.

While Stella was barely able to make it through the yard. Once her paws hit that concrete floor, she trotted for the door, nudging at the door nob with her nose. She was very very happy to be back inside with a short howl and a tail wagging.

So I think it is safe to say the arctic conditions are over here in 'the tropics. All inside heat has been turned off and it's still warm inside. All the mini blinds have been opened to let that bright sunshine in and tomorrow we will start the day 20 some degrees warmer than the past 4-5 days.

I'll continue to look at property out west, analyze, think too much, go back and forth on my options and may even fit in a game or two of Mahjong before dinner.

Life is good here in 'the tropics' of Southern Indiana.

Brutal Cold Temperatures

Yes, there are other places where it is much more colder than here, their snow is deeper than here but as we stepped outside at 10am I could tell the temperature was brutal. WeatherBug was telling me it was -2° and a wind chill of -15° and we had no plans of staying outside long ... we were outside for 1 minute and 18 seconds.

Within that time Sadie never moved off of 'Winston's Patio' and Stella had peed but was standing still not moving. By the time she started walking toward the house not 20' away she lifted her rear paw and stopped walking because she was freezing. I had my down parka on with a hood, gloves and was warm ... my face was freezing in less than 2 minutes outside.

Notice the small bird tracks.

I had nor have any plans of taking a walk today. Scanning different weather sites it is not going to get higher than 6° but the wind chill will be below zero all day today. Yet, even in weather like this the hounds have to dump their tanks, even Heidi. So the trips outside will be few and far between but within their limits of 'holding it'. In no instance will we be staying outside longer than we did this morning.

Consequently there is not a lot going to happen around here today. But ... the sunshine is brighter than ever, the house is warm inside and that slow drip of water in the bathroom faucet helps keeping the water pipes from freezing. In the 43 years the house has been here, in winters worse than this year there is no history of the water pipes busting. I hope I have not jinxed myself typing that.

I glanced in the direction that Stella was looking and didn't see any kind of human life outside anywhere. I saw no birds, deer, cats or dogs. She must have heard something.

A few seconds later she started the slow walk to the house. You can see her lifting that rear paw.

Then she stopped walking and I was sure that I was going to have to carry her into the house. Sadie didn't care and was more interested in something below the snow. Once I said "lets go" she was more than happy to get back inside.

Late yesterday afternoon we had a visitor ... a cardinal ... the state bird and the nickname of the local high school athletics.

To stay warm I have been looking at real estate and rentals in Arizona and New Mexico. Plus I am counting the days until Saturday when the temps are in the 30's and mid 50's by Sunday. Today's routine will more of the same inside .. reading, 2048 game, more Mahjong, and internet surfing.

The sun is out and bright today here in 'the tropics' of Southern Indiana at 0°.

We Changed Our Mind

It wasn't two hours ago that I posted "Not Interested" when I mentioned anything about walking in the snow, shoveling snow, watching the snow ... anything with snow. Yet when you live in "5 minute windows" like I do anything is possible. So .... Stella and Sadie were THRILLED that I changed my mind about going outside for a hound walk in the deep (deeper than we thought) snow.

I was not to the field yet and the snow was up to the top of my boots. They are built for this so I had no doubt that my feet would stay dry and stay warm ... onward ... the hounds were already in the back of the field knowing we were going to go on a walk.

The longer I walked, the deeper the snow got. I could tell watching the hounds it was much deeper than forecasted or what I thought it was by adding 2" to the 2" to 3" we already had. The snow was almost up to the elbows of each bloodhound.

Stella was more interested in the wooded area and the gully rather than the field. I had to yell loud for her to change her mind and her direction.

She was having fun running through the snow around the field from the wooded area to the middle of the lower field. In past years I have seen and walked through this field when the snow was up to the bottom of Sadie's stomach and higher than Winston's back ... but today's snowfall although not as deep as that was deeper than we have had in recent years.

First I couldn't believe I was seeing sparrows on the ground up ahead. If you remember, Sadie LOVES chasing birds in the heat of the summer if she finds birds at ground level in the field or yard ... she was going to get some sprints in today.

As I looked down at my buried boots ... Sadie took off.

I caught her over by the woods behind the neighbor's house but she came sprinting when I called her name.

Of course today was one of those days where one hounds is in the opposite direction than the other. Once Stella realizes that is happening, then it's her chance to escape. By the time I found Stella all I saw were her two rear legs and her butt ... she was about to go down into the gully.

Yelling her name with a stern tone and saying "get out of there", she turned around and ran toward me through deep snow, thorny bush stems and anything else in her way. She does not run, trot or walk around anything ... including me ... when something is in her way.

Sadie ??? Well one of "her birds" had escaped and had flown back across the field back to the area on my right side just ahead of Stella. I had to do a little convincing to break her focus otherwise her chase could lead her to parts unknown if that bird had gone airborne.

I decided to turn around before the back of the field. I thought but was wrong, I had seen Stella raise her paw slightly signifying that she was cold ... but she had other ideas.

They too live in "5 minute windows" so their focus soon changed to the neighbor across the highway that was brushing the snow off of his windshield. Only mom gets to park in the garage.

I could measure the distance from the ground to Sadie's elbow or I could go outside and drop a tape measure into the snow to get the depth ... but she would never stand that still, assuming I was about to cut her toenails ... and ... I've had enough fun in the snow this afternoon. So I'll just say the snow is deep and leave it at that.

Stella was ready ... I only said "let's go home" and she ran over to the path we had made and took off.

Sadie had to explore more on the way home.

Their time in the snow with a walk and some wrestling was satisfying enough to them that they ran to the door to go back inside ... but I had some work to do.

Doesn't look like much snow but it is sitting under the roof, plus I needed to clean up what I could in the carport before those rain showers show up later this afternoon and tonight, then turn to ice.

I only shoveled the area of the carport I spoke of early today ... but when you get distracted like I do outside, I decided I needed to clear out the required space around my mailbox that is requested by the post office to get the mail delivered ... 99.9% junk mail anymore.

The only problem with that is ... as the plow moves further out to the edge of the asphalt with each high speed pass, what I have shoveled around the mailbox will be covered with salty, sandy, slush ... that will freeze over tonight with the lower temps. It will be a disaster tomorrow when the mail carrier returns to work after a holiday off.

Before going back inside I kicked my boots hard and often against the concrete steps to get as much snow off of them as possible. My feet were dry and warm inside them.

Since we have had our unexpected walk, the carport is shoveled, a 2nd blog post within hours there is nothing more planned outside for today. It will be some reading, a few games of Mahjong, and maybe a game, movie or two transferred from my DVR to DVDs.

The hardest part of today will be explaining to Sadie why she cannot have any of my Oreo Golden Double Stuf Cookies. (THEY only use one 'F'). When you have to go out late at night, snowing hard enough that you cannot see when you drive to buy some kind of 'snack' food ... you know that you have fallen off of your diet wagon head first.

Enjoy the photos, there are 40 of them ... hope this didn't soak up too much data for those readers with data limits.

Waiting for those late afternoon, early evening "snow showers" here in 'the tropics' of Southern Indiana.