Winter storms - short walks

We brought two wet, muddy, and cold dogs into the house early this afternoon. We had seen the lightning and heard the thunder (we were perilously close to one bolt as we took photos after lunch) and hurried home to take care of the puppies. Poor Paddy hates thunder. If she can find a way out of the yard during a storm she will take it. But today there was no escape (I spent some serious time and effort closing the last escape hole a few weeks ago) and so Paddy was waiting in her house while Scruffy waited at the gate. We were surprised by the storm thinking that it had already blown through. This front hit hard this morning (temperatures dropping from 70 to 39 in an instant) and just kept giving us crazy weather.

The pups came inside and sat patiently as we toweled them dry. Well, Scruffy was almost patient. He did shake a bit and I am sure I will be cleaning up mud for a while. [I am still finding drips from a long ago tie dye experience with the neighborhood kiddos...there are always a few stray drops in unexpected places.]

Still, the dogs are not used to spending so much time in the house. This only means that we will be braving the treacherous weather as we walk the puppies and then hustle them in again, pre-frostbite. I don't know that they will have the full run of the yard until much later in the week.

I took them out a few minutes ago - pre-60 Minutes/pre-Oscars. Our windshields were iced over, but the sidewalks were not obstructed - yet. Frozen rain and granules of sleet coat the grass and leaves in the yard. I tried to guide the animals away from the ice. They may have fur insulated paws, but we had a walk to take and I wanted to make sure they had a chance to stretch without hurting themselves.

Few cars were on the road. Clearly people took the weather warnings seriously and stayed off the roads. We saw one bird, a grackle, which flew away as soon as it saw us. We saw a teenaged girl walking towards us, dressed in jeans and a hoodie. I asked if she was cold and she said that it "did not feel that cold" to her. We kept walking and I lifted a thought to the universe that she and all the other creatures out in the cold take shelter soon.*

We headed down the hill. I knew we wouldn't walk too far. And we were turned around by barking dogs about a half mile from the house. These dogs are always alert and one sometimes escapes to bark us away. I decided not to risk any excitement. The last thing I needed was to wrestle my two away from a strange puppy in the wet street.

Some kind of precipitation was falling as we walked. I don't know what to call it - light flurries?

We are all back inside now, thawing. I can hear the clicking of sleet on the window behind me. The weather reporter just announced it is 80 degrees in Brownsville and 8 in Amarillo. It is 25 here and destined to hit 20 with single digit windchills in the a.m. It will not get above freezing until Tuesday afternoon...but only after more freezing precipitation.

Did I mention that I did not go to the grocery store this weekend? Well, I didn't.**

We have enough provisions for a few days, but nothing exciting/fresh (except for milk and eggs). I supposed we could live on oatmeal or spaghetti or scrambled eggs, or tuna salad for a few days. And I suspect there may be a bread mix in the cupboard. We will be fine...or I will send DH hiking off to the store for provisions. We did that one year, but our grocery store has moved and I suspect the man would not be amused. He has already announced he is not running in the morning. A hike to the store is probably out as well.

But I will be walking the dogs in the cold cold morning. I am so looking forward to it...

NOTES:

*I am convinced that teenagers are simply crazy. I have my reasons. Today provided more evidence.

** I know, what kind of former Girl Scout am I? I may not be completely prepared, but I am prepared enough for the couple of cold days ahead. [I could still start a fire with one match!]