Our first hard freeze

The cool breeze we had hiking the Bisbee Hills on Sunday stayed with us.  Monday was windy but still in the upper 60s, then the cold temperatures that have been ransacking the Rockie Mountain states pushed into southern Arizona overnight.  We had our first Hard Frost warning for Monday overnight.Yesterday's morning walk was a chilling 25F with Zeke and Sweetie.  The afternoon walk was  47F with the pups. Gretel is no longer barking at other dogs or people, but she still lunges at other dogs and moving vehicles. I walk at a brisk pace and the dogs don't seem to mind, but my face, ears and hands were cold 

 

Monday I covered my Iraqi acacia with a sheet to protect it from the chill.  I also bought birdseed for the birds that like to make my front yard their home.

It was nice to see the mountains shrouded in fog again.  I've missed that view.

Wednesdays are now my early release days.  Teachers can leave as early as noon if all required grades and quizes are completed and posted online.  I left at 12:30pm to get home, do some gardening, and then take the entire pack down to the river by 3pm.  All six dogs were eager to come on this river hike, as I expected, because Sadie and Minnie haven't hiked since last Wednesday when I walked down to the beaver dam with Susan and Allie.  

I like these river rambles, even now with most of the river dried up for long stretches. It's the only chance the dogs get to run off-leash. Today I was alone.  Susan had pulled a muscle doing some home repair a few days ago and opted not to come.  I'm OK by myself with six dogs, but the later in the day that I now go down to the river, the more chances I have of meeting wildlife.  Today it was just an owl and a great blue heron.  There were no cows or javelina. The water was, as expected, much colder than last week.

My only human encounter was near the end, when the pups and Sweetie ran ahead of me to great a dog who had just come down to the river.  They were not aggressive but I didn't appreciate none of the dogs coming back to me when I called them. I heard a female voice but never saw the person calling back her dog.

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