I worked a half day on Tuesday, allowing me some time to walk the dogs on my usual route, but today, due to the wet grass, I opted to walk them on pavement off Calle Prieta, north of the dirt road where I normally start. Minnie came along. I was hoping the cool drizzle would make her want to walk, but she then pooped, turned around, and walked back to the car. She had barely walked .1 mile. I should have gone back to put her in the car with the windows open. Instead, I opted to at least get a quick mile in before doing so. Bad move. There was another car already parked in the cul-de-sac I park in.An older man walking his white Great Pyrenees was watching me and the dogs from an adjacent street. That was his car. I should have turned around and gone straight to Minnie and get her in the car before the Great Pyrenees would see her. I ended up walking down to the end of the street before turning around, just as the man was. He was angry, seeing Minnie sitting by the car. His car was parked at the corner of the cul-de-sac where I normally park and I was behind him by 50 feet.
I had to cut across the wet grass to evade the angry man and his dog, but when I got to my Honda, he yelled obscenities at me, telling me it's the law to keep dogs leashed in the county. "My dog could have fucking killed your dogs!" If I had put Minnie in the car to wait on us, there wouldn't have been any danger, because my dogs would have followed me away from the white dog. But this man wouldn't stop lashing nastiness my way. I got into my car to calm down. He started to drive off, then stopped his car. He was waiting on me. I was waiting for him to leave. This waiting game lasted ten minutes. At 8:50am I finally drove off, and the old man in the maroon Hyundai followed me! He followed me south on SR92, then turned east on Hereford Road, then followed me around in a circle around the Horseshoe Ranch Estates. This wasn't funny. What if he was armed and had planned on hurting me? And why the need to follow me?
I couldn't keep on driving around to evade him. I had to get to work by 12:30am. I eventually lost him (or he gave up) north of Hereford Road. I pulled into our driveway, yelled for the dogs to get inside, quickly changed int dry work clothes, and drove off to town for a bite to eat. By noon the rain was back on, coming down steadily. Side streets were flooding and culverts were barely able to keep water maintained.
It took me a while to calm down after that aggressive car pursuit. I should have noted the man's license plate when I walked past his car. I normally photograph suspicious vehicles just in case there is a problem. I didn't this time, planning on quick mile-long walk and heading back home before the next volley of rain.
If anything, this has taught me to be more vigilant when walking my dogs. I only have issues on the streets. I never come across anyone while on the dirt roads. And Minnie will stay home from now on, even if it's cool and rainy.
It's been raining on and off since, continuing in the evening and again overnight, with Wednesday morning being much of the same thing. Temperatures have dropped with this rain. It was even cold last night. It will remain cool until Saturday, when the 80-degree weather is back.
Our neighborhood didn't flood, but other areas where dirt roads are the main transportation, people have been reporting flooding.
I got up again early to walk the dogs, leaving Minnie and Sweety home this time and just taking Sadie and Zeke. Those two dogs are the best behaved of the pack and stay close by me. This morning it didn't rain until I was on my route back, managing 2.15 miles under an overcast sky. Zeke seems to enjoy running through wet grass.
By the afternoon the sky cleared and the ground began drying up.
On Friday morning I'm driving to Cloudcroft, NM to meet up with Nina and Holly. We have worked out the details. Holly even has a campsite in mind east of town, the James Canyon campground. This will be our first get-together since we hiked in Garwood, Alaska two summers ago. I will meet Nina in Benson at 8am and we will convoy in two vehicles. I'm so looking forward to this little retreat with good friends. Weather should be mild. By this weekend Lorena will have died out somewhere over Arkansas.
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