Had I known there would be so much dry wind, I would have waited a day to give Banner her bath. A blow dryer wouldn’t have been needed.
The wind was so strong that, as we ran errands, I took a step and it blew one leg into the other, nearly causing me to trip. All the way around our stops, there was evidence of its force. A power pole was still standing along one road, although it was hovering at an angle of around 45 degrees. In another area, a Stop sign was tilting and weaving at around 60 degrees.
When we arrived at the park, limbs were down here and there. One was about 8′, a pine branch. Another around 20′ long may have broken more easily from interior decay. It was lying on the ground beside Marlin Perkins. Things were flying through the air that shouldn’t have been. But we had a nice walk. After the first lap, I asked if she wanted to go home, but she gave a firm but polite response, “No”. Of the many ways that our dogs learn how to communicate with us, with creativity driven by need, she has learned to step behind me and to the right with her head down to answer this question. This works well since dogs walk on the left and our vehicles are usually parked on the left. It is clear and unambiguous. She is approaching her old lady years, and there have been a few times that she wanted to leave after one lap, walking toward the vehicle instead of behind me, sometimes before being asked. As we continued our walk, my hair tied down and hers standing in every direction except where it was parted by the wind, we enjoyed our time in silence. New, immature red Maple seed pods were scattered along the sidewalk. Aside from one young family at the slide, no one else was around, not even squirrels or birds. Rounding the corner toward the east, our steps became lighter.
We left the park and stopped to deliver some starts of our walking iris to a neighbor. It had finally reached the point that trimming the dead ends of some leaves was essential, and there were also a number of runners touching the floor. I’m not a person who can keep indoor plants in good shape, but this one tolerates me well. There are two plants dead in planters here, and two others that are holding on. I like the plants that enjoy being outside and plants that turn soil into watermelons, cantaloupe, tomatoes, corn, etc, or roses and Magnolia blossoms. The walking iris produces lovely small blooms at the end of runners, and these delicate blossoms have a tantalizing fragrance. Knowing someone in the Master Gardener’s club, I asked if she would like some starts. She will surely have outstanding results. We talked about the wind, and she said that her daughter’s trampoline was on top of her house.
For all of the gusts and evidence, the forecast had shown only 13 mph wind. Hmmm. And with all of the wind, the AQI had peaked at around 115 and dropped down to 15 in a short time.
There were more things blowing around in the air as we drove home: a large foam cooler floating and tumbling across a soccer park, a box that had been driven across a large field. I began to wish that I had moved the outdoor furniture to safe space. Fortunately, the pieces were still on the patio, which, also fortunately, was on the east side.
You never know what kind of adventure you will encounter when you take your Newf for a walk. I highly recommend it.
Happiest of Fridays!
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