Thursday, July 10, 2008, 06:08
The Great Outdoors
After a sweltering hot day on Monday, a few minor thunderstorms rolled through Monday night. We only got about a tenth of an inch of rain. By Tuesday afternoon, the wind had switched and the dew point and humidity were much lower.
Now the weather forecast is predicting more hot and sweltering weather for Thursday and Friday. Which is why I decided that I ought to start mowing the lawn Wednesday afternoon. We haven't mowed the lawn in three weeks. It needed mowing, but it wasn't too bad. Patchy, really. And weeds growing tall in a few places. Alyssum is always a problem around here.
After I had gotten a handle on a couple of newspaper stories I had to write, I drank a glass of water, tied a bandanna around my head and went out to start the push mower. I figured I'd have a half hour to mow before Randy came home from work, and by then, I would need a break.
I mowed behind the barn and had started mowing around the garden when I saw Randy's truck pull in the driveway. I shut off the mower and headed up the hill toward the house.
As soon as I walked in, I knew by the look on Randy's face that something was wrong. He was holding Dora and petting her.
"Dora was scared," he said.
"Scared? Of what?" I said.
"She was really, really scared."
I waited for him to tell me what had frightened Dora.
"She was outside when I got home," he said.
"WHAT?!?!" I said.
"She was outside. And when I came up to the porch, she desperately wanted to get in the house," he said.
"But," I said, "that means she was outside for a half an hour! And I was sure I had closed the door behind me."
The storm door is one that swings shut slowly on its own. I generally push it shut behind me so Dora doesn't sneak out. Unless I know she 's down in the basement and I don't have to worry about it. Dora is quite the escape artist.
"Well, she was outside. And she was scared. She wanted to come back in the house," Randy said.
"I suppose the truck scared her when you drove in. The mower was going, too. And Pixie was barking at the mower," I said.
Randy petted Dora some more. "I've been telling you and telling you that outside is a bad place for little black kittens," he said, setting Dora on the floor.
I can't help but wonder what she did all that time that she was out in the Great Outdoors by herself and I didn't know she was outside.
"Maybe she learned a lesson," Randy said. "At least I hope so."
Of course, Wednesday evening, Dora slipped outside two more times.
It doesn't appear that she has become afraid of going outside.
I sometimes wish her name wasn't Dora (the Explorer). Except -- she was the first of the three kittens to begin exploring around the basement. So I guess I shouldn't be surprised that she is still the adventurous one.
I'm just glad I didn't know until after the fact that she was outside all that time.
After Randy changed his clothes, he came outside to help me mow. I'm happy to say that we got finished with the lawn. Now I won't have to wonder how I'm going to get it mowed when it turns hot and sweltering again.
Charlie
Since Saturday morning, poor Charlie has had four episodes of falling down. It's like his hind legs quit working on him and down he goes. Then he tries to get up and whimpers and wines like he is in pain until we can get to him and get him up on his chest. We let him lay there for a minute, and then we get him up on haunches. And then after a couple of minutes, he can stand up again. All four times, it has happened when we've had him out for a walk, and thankfully, Randy has been there all four times.
Wednesday I called the vet clinic, talked to the vet, and then went in to get more prednisone for him. I think his hips are locking up on him. From the bad infection he had two years ago after surgery for fatty tumors and from the Lyme disease he has had five times (in spite of the vaccine), I'm thinking he's got a bad case of arthritis in his hip joints.
Charlie responded very well to prednisone a month ago when he couldn't get up at all. I am hoping the prednisone will help him out now. He's always been such an active dog. I hate to see him not being able to get around and knowing he is in pain.
LeAnn R. Ralph
Monday, July 07, 2008, 17:18
Sweltering
Friday when I was at the Fourth of July craft sale, the humidity and dewpoints were low, the temperature was maybe 80 degrees, and it felt downright cool in the shade with the breeze blowing.
Saturday afternoon the humidity started to go up. By Sunday it was sweltering. By Monday morning, it was really sweltering.
We are dry, dry, dry here. We got a half inch of very much needed rain Sunday evening. It's not enough, but it is better than nothing. We are still not out of the drought weather pattern that we've been in for the past four years. So this makes the fifth year of drought here.
If it doesn't rain at all for two weeks, it takes no time at all for everything to start drying up. Apparently, there is very little moisture reserve in the ground. Not surprising, I guess, since it was dry down beyond the subsoil last year. When we dug fence post holes last summer, we never did reach any moist soil down in the holes.
The half inch of rain, however, brought the humidity way up. The dewpoints are in the 70s, and the humidity is probably in the 90 percent range.
By the time I finished feeding the horses, carrying water, cleaning up manure and putting fly spray on Isabelle and Kajun, I was about ready to collapse. The air is so thick it's hard to breathe.
I tied a bandanna around my forehead to keep the sweat out of my eyes. It is so hot and sweltering that by the time I finished my chores, the bandanna was saturated and was dripping sweat off it down the back of my neck. Ick.
When it's hot like this, I only let Pixie outside for a few minutes at a time. It's much too hot for a little long-haired Sheltie. Charlie was out for a while Monday morning. When I finished the chores, he was panting like he had run 10 miles. I asked if he wanted to "go basement" and "go kennel." He seemed to think it was a fine idea because he was standing with his nose to the basement door by the time I got there.
LeAnn R. Ralph