Today it is raining at my house here in Austin, Texas. The weathermen, or should that be weather forecasters considering there are as many women as men, forecast the possibilities of flash flooding and thunderstorms which tends to happen a lot here in Texas. Probably due to the fact that we can go a month or more without it raining and then all of a sudden, down comes a couple or more inches all in one go. It was almost exactly a month ago when I posted about the last heavy rain and the flooding through my yard. You can read about that one here. On the other hand, the forecasters are not always right and we may end up with nothing more than a shower and nothing else to worry about.

The Corona-19 virus has not claimed any victims in my immediate neighborhood that I know of. What has happened is an increase in the locals and neighbors doing a lot more walking and exercising, many with their furry buddies for companions. That includes me as I have not visited or been hiking at any of the local parks lately. What I have been doing for exercise apart from the usual work of attending to the ponds and working in the yard is to take the dogs walking late in the afternoons. They have got to that point where they now expect it or rather demand it. Sandy, the little girl dog is really intelligent about it and when it is about that time and if I am showing the right inclinations, will stand by the table where her leash is and look at it and then back at me several times all the while barking her fool head off. This gets Mikey, the little boy dog going and he will join in with the barking. It’s really hard to ignore them and regardless of how tired and sore I might be from all of the outside work, I just have to give in and get them ready. The hardest thing is to get the leashes on as they won’t sit or even stand still, they are so excited. Actually, I have a single leash that is split at the end to hook up two dogs at a time. I find it very useful especially as both of my dogs do not have the greatest of manners when hooked up with a lot of pulling and tugging to get me to walk faster. I don’t usually mind as I use them as my method of walking allowing them to tow me along.

We eventually make it out of the house door and then out through the garage door where I have to stop by my truck to get the garage door opener in order to close the garage. Then, we are off with Sandy leading the way. Her nose is always down and she stops often to pee like a dog with her leg cocked followed by a lot of growling and scratching usually covering Mikey who is behind her, with leaves and grass. Remember, she is a bitch in dog language but she doesn’t behave like one. Mikey, on the other hand does not pee very often and is usually content to walk a step or two behind Sandy. If he sees something that bothers him like people walking in the distance, especially if they have a dog or two, will stop and stare at them and I have to cajole him to get going once more. If and when either of them does their business, like a good neighbor, I stop and pick it up in one of those little plastic bags designed for it and put it in my other larger plastic bag attached to my belt for later disposal. Not the pleasantest of jobs but my neighbors do not need my dogs poop in their yard even if it only on it by a foot or so.

The other day as we were passing one of the houses, one of the neighbors little female Dachshund had gotten out and was pestering the other dogs next door who were behind their fence. Spotting Sandy, who by this time was kicking up a fuss, the little weiner dog went for her and she did very well in returning the attack with me and Mikey caught in the middle. While I was trying to get them separated, Mikey, who is definitely not a fighter but a real chicken little, was desperately trying to jump up into my arms to get away from it all. Me, I was too busy trying to get the dogs separated and managed to do so but not before getting my legs scratched up as I had shorts on. Neither dog was hurt other than their doggy pride and the Dachshund went back to her original game of bothering the dogs behind the fence and we went on our way. Sandy wasn’t through and kept turning around and sending out growls and barks in the general direction of the Dachshund. A couple of days later, we passed the Dachshund this time on a leash and on the other side of the road with its owner and even then, they both barked up a storm and tried to get at each other. Guess they just plain ole don’t like each other. Both are Females which should explain everything! By the way, the Dachshund is really a very pretty dog and is a mix of brown, black and white.

Today, the guys are out of luck with it raining like it is. I don’t care how cute Sandy looks or excited that Mikey gets, we are not walking. It’s raining for goodness sake…..

Written 5/12/2020