Our first rain

It was a hot day that even crippled me.  I had to drive to Stan's Fencing to drop off my signed proposal for a front-yard gate. I didn't get there until 2pm.  I had this planned to give the dogs relief at the hottest time of the day; it's a 30-minute drive and the cool air in the truck felt good to me as well.

I stopped by Culver's for a strawberry-blueberry concrete mixer and two pup cups on my way back home.  They ate their treat with gusto.  Afterwards I stopped at the Dollar General to give each dog some cold cottage cheese.  Again, both dogs ate most of their pint.  I would have gotten them each a pint of vanilla ice cream if my cooler were reliable at 32F (It keeps defaulting to 42F).

By 5pm the sky became more cloudy and I told Susan I would stay home instead of bring the dogs over as it was cooling off.  And sure enough, I could see storm clouds and lightning during my late afternoon walk with the dogs around the 'hood.  Virga clouds again created a beautiful sunset.  The initial forecast called for only 19% chance of rain.  It was looking like it was going to storm.

It was a calm walk. And then Gretchen got her drama in. There must have been some slack in her choker collar as she broke out of it and pranced down the middle of Hereford Road, forcing drivers from both directions to stop for her safety. I had her leash and the collar in my right hand (looking, I'm sure, rather dumbfoundedly) with Sweetie on her leash in my left hand.   Oh great.  I hate when she does this and then just takes off running!  She knows how to wiggle out of her collar. She had her own plans to fencefight with the dogs on Madalein Road, one of the roads I walk to complete a mile.  She kept looking back at me but ignored my pleas to come back to me. 

Two barky dogs are in the corner yard along Brickey Road, one road further south from Madelein. Gretchen likes to fight with them, much to their owner's chagrin.  When Gretchen goes into her fight mode I get desperate.  She's bonding well with me, but she isn't losing her high prey drive. She only fights because she's secured by a fence that keeps the other dogs safe from her.  Otherwise she shies away from fighting. This drama perhaps lasted five long minutes, the time it took me to walk the 0.25 mile and tire her out.

I was barely back home when the sky got dark, the winds picked up, and at 8pm it began to pour!  All my stuff outside got wet, but I was inside enjoying the breeze and both dogs were chilling in the truck where they stayed for the night.  The other dogs in the house were again quiet overnight, the fourth day in a row.  I'm sure my neighbors are wondering what is going on.

This was our first significant rain since early March.  It only lasted 30 minutes, but the rest of the night was cool and breezy.  We are expected to get a repeat of this next Thursday.

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Gasoline is now $4.79 a gallon at the Speedway gas station I use. San Francisco reported its first case of monkey pox, the latest virus du jour, and now 12 cases are suspected in California.  As for the coronavirus, the grand death total since March 2020 is now at 1,005,633 through May 2022.

https://www.npr.org/2022/06/10/1104235591/heat-wave-weekend-california-texas