It was a fun weekend.
It began early Saturday. Foregoing any hikes with any clubs, I met up with Susan in town where we got together with the Corvette Club. This was my first time meeting people she has talked about a lot, a group of wealthy businessmen and generals who now drive around in Corvettes of all year models. The club picks a destination for each gathering. Susan has a 2005 Corvette and together we drove in a speedy caravan to Benson, AZ, where The Traveling Wall, a replica of the Vietnam War Memorial Wall, was on display. Memorials for all the other conflicts since World War II were also on display, including terrorist attacks on the World Trade Center, Oklahoma City Federal Building in 1995, and others.
There were at least 20 Corvettes speeding north on SR90. I had never been in a Corvette. The seat was very comfortable, but the seat is not made for anyone with a blubber butt. There is no room for any dogs, either, and whatever gear one has must be put in the small trunk. It's a nice show-off car for those who like fast cars, but not convenient for anyone wanting to travel in comfort.
The Traveling Wall arrived in Benson on Wednesday. The replica wall was then assembled with volunteers at the Golf Course located on the north side of I-10. This event was more than just a replica Memorial wall, though. There were art booths, motivational speakers, food trucks, and lots of dogs! We both met a handler and his two-year-old service dog, Riff, and naturally I had to photograph it .
The problem was, there was little shade for visitors other than the speaker's tent, it was getting warm fast, and the one thing we both wanted to see were the singers, but they weren't performing until 2pm. We couldn't wait that long. Motivational speakers, especially those talking about the Iraq war, don't interest me. In fact, I'd rather avoid them. Why relive the past? Susan had an extra water bottle for me, but I should have brought a hat to cover up from the sun. We were both very warm after only 90 minutes there, although I did start warming up to the Car Club members. They were all very friendly.
We left anyway. It was already in the upper 80s. Kevin would probably have enjoyed the event. I picked up a nice coffee mug for him with "stand for the flag, kneel for the fallen" logo on it.
We were back in Sierra Vista before noon. A Black Lives Matter (BLM) Protest had been planned in town, from 10am-1pm on the west side of SR92. The BLMers brought out the "All Lives Matter" counter group, which were nothing but pro-Trumpers waving their Trump flags from the east side of SR92. After a quick stop at Lowe's for new strawberry plants (to replace the ones the pups destroyed while I was in Indiana), I went back to the protesters to take photographs.
Here is where it got interesting. I started on the ALM side, the Trump flag wavers. I was quickly asked who I was and why I was there. "I'm taking pictures!" was not a good enough answer, apparently, but I also didn't want to get into an argument with a Trump fan. Some on the ALM side also acted like they wanted to taunt the younger BLM group. Whenever the BLMers yelled out "Black Lives Matter!" one yahoo on the ALM side yelled out "All Lives Matter, Vote Trump!" When the counter-yells became too aggressive, I opted to get on the BLM side. The only opposition I got there was having the organizer come up to me and tell me to please mask up when approaching anyone. The BLMers were a young crowd, and many, I'm sure were still in high school. Some of the BLMers wore "RBG" t-shirts in honor of Supreme Court Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg who died Friday after a long battle with pancreatic cancer.
I had walked away to go to Taco Bell for lunch and ended up totally missing an aggressive event that then took place and which I saw later that night on Facebook: a drive traveling south on SR 92 stopped her car in traffic (!!!) to get out and confront the BLMers. She was quite aggressive and despite being warned to back off, she lunged forward to hit at one of the protesters to which she was peppersprayed. Her partner came to her rescue, she was screaming in pain and soon the cops came to take the participants away for interviews. By 1pm the BLM group dispersed, as they had only until 1pm for their protests. The Trumpers stayed on their side of the road even after I drove off.
The pepperspray incident went viral soon thereafter and was the hot topic on Facebook the rest of the weekend. Who was that woman, what happened to her and what happened to the man who peppersprayed her?
I met up again with Susan and the dogs (Sadie and Zeke stayed home) at 4:15pm to walk the river north from the casa for a mile. The dogs were loud and the barking attracted Bob, who was walking his three Golden Retrievers and hear the commotion. He warned us that he had killed a young Mohave snake and that it was still on the trail. Again Gretel went ballistic barking at Bob and wouldn't calm down until we left the area.
It wasn't until we got home that I thought about taking the dogs to the dead snake to see how they would react. Would a dead snake cause them to panic and jump back like a live one would? I had to experiment with that thought.s
After a quick mile around the hood with Hansel, after which I met my corner neighbors Robbie and her GSDs Shelley (12) and Buster (8 weeks, new pup after her 10-year-old dog died last week from hip dysplasia complications), I took the pups and Minnie down to the river. Susan had too much else to do, so it was just me and three dogs. I took them on the r official trail and not the more shaded birding trail they are so used to being on. Poor Minnie struggled with her arthritic legs but soldiered on. We completed the eastern section of the official field trail and didn't see the snake. I took the dogs on a much-needed water break when I was surprised by another couple and their offleash shitzoo. And yes, that is what I call that hairy breed: a shit-zoo.
The man apologized for spooking me, but I reminded him that he had as much a right to walk their dogs here offleash as I did, so I decided to continue my walk north in the river, and to give the couple some time alone with their dog. I guess I'm not the only one who comes to this part of the river to walk my dogs offleash...the secret it out.sia
And this is how I ended up walking three miles with the dogs in the morning, under the cool morning shade. The dogs loved this special treat, as only the pups and Minnie are my water dogs. There was no Allie barking, no Zeke nipping me, just three happy dogs splashing around in the water. The riverside saltcedar (tamarinsk) is now in bloom, and all the yellow ragwort that was in full yellow bloom two weeks ago is now fading to brown and making room for the sunflowers.
We walked about a quarter mile in the cool water before we had to detour due to heavy snags. I got the dogs back on the official trail and got back to the river where the trail takes a sharp turn to the east. The iron trail markers led the well-worn single track to the river, something I've never noticed before. I always remember the trail paralleling the river but not being right by the river. Is this a new detour? At any rate it looked like other river waders have been using this path to the water. The dogs certainly didn't mind being back in the cool shade.
The water here was shallow and meandering in narrow curves downriver. If this keeps up, there won't be much water left.! I played fetch with the dogs as we moved north, but turned around at the 1.5-mile mark, where the deeper beaver dam begins. I didn't want to exhaust Minnie.
d We stayed on the official trail going back, despite the exposure. I was hoping to have a second chance to see the dead snake, and yes, we saw it this time. It was a hatchling and looked smaller than the 14 inches Bob described it to be. He had stomped on its head and crushed the poor critter and was lying in the middle of the path. How did I miss it going north?
The dogs showed no fear. While Hansel displayed a brief recoil, he and Gretel approached the dead snake for a sniff-down. Gretel even took the snake in her mouth to fling it. I hope that was because the snake was dead and the dogs could sense that. Minnie sniffed it, too but then moved away.
So much for snake avoidance. At least my questions were answered and we could all go home feeling a good walk was had by all. The only other walk I did later today was a sunset mile around the neighborhood with Zeke and Sweetie.
***
Global Cases: 31,222,931
Global deaths:968,949
US cases: 6,994,791
US deaths 204,049
AZ cases: 214,018 (+467)
AZ deaths: 5,476 (+9)
GA cases:306,155 (+1134)
GA deaths: 6602 (+3)
No comments:
Post a Comment