Nickolas and dogs

Well, Nickolas just skipped right by us. We got maybe a 1/2” of rain, maybe, and that was in the first half of the day Monday. Around 5PM the wind picked up and thrashed around but we never lost power though some people in town did, and the wind had died down by 1AM. The yard though is littered with dead branches big and small and tons of leaves. We've already filled the back of the truck and still plenty more to be picked up.

About the dogs...instead of replying to everyone individually, I'll just do it here. They've never actually attacked anyone that I'm aware of, if they had then I'm sure the dogs wouldn't still be there but I have no idea what their intentions are to my little dog. One bite and that would be the end of her, fearless as she is. She has chased many a big dog out of our yard. And it happens infrequently, maybe five times to me in as many years. I'm not really afraid of them but it's still unnerving when they charge like that and I always stand my ground fearful of turning my back on them. It mostly pisses me off that the people just stand there and watch instead of coming after their dogs. The first time there was a scrap of board on the street and as soon as I picked it up and raised my arm they turned around and ran back. When it happens, I'll carry a stout pole with me for a week or so and then I get tired of carrying it when I walk the dog. I've thought about carrying wasp spray too but again it happens so infrequently. There used to be three but Rocky shot one of them when it had one of his chickens in it's mouth. After that they kept the dogs penned up. But when the people are out in the yard, they will let the dogs out too. Mostly they stay in or around the big shop. They're at the very end of the street, have some sort of business in a big metal building on the corner and then they have another acre (lots here are minimum 1/2 acre). They originally only had one lot but after Harvey they tore their house down instead of fixing it up and bought a big double wide but the county wouldn't let them put in a new septic system on the half acre because there wasn't enough room for the spray heads so they bought the vacant lot between him and Rocky. That lot was vacant because the house that was on it was a run down rent house and the guy who was living there, well, his girlfriend torched it with him in it one night and it burned down. He escaped with his life and that's about all, ran over to Rocky's nekkid as a jaybird. Anyway, I was about at the near property line this last time and the adults were at the far side of the property. Anyone else would have taken off after their dogs. We're in the county, there's no dog catcher, it's a rural county, not highly populated. It's up to individuals to trap stray dogs and then the county will come fetch them. If you call and ask what you can do about dogs they'll tell you to just shoot them. It's Texas is all I can say.

The other thing on my mind is my slow reconciliation of having to go through the other ablation. I had almost two days respite this time but it's been active all day today. My resistance to the procedure is wearing down. The medication isn't working. Not life threatening he tells me, just quality of life issue. Well, this quality sucks.

And Minnie has been in my face all day, wanting something. Out, let's go. We go out, she runs to the end of the driveway, I pick up fallen limbs and sticks. I call her in. Soon, out, let's go. We repeated this three times. The fourth time I let her lead me over to my sister's house. I laid down for a while and and then she's in my face, barking, sneezing (one of her ploys for attention), biting, c'mon, let's go! It was a little after 5 so I fed her and she ran straight to the door, out! So we went for our walk down to the end of the street and back, slow, it started drizzling. I carried the pole, an old broomstick, but of course the dogs were in the fenced yard behind their house. Minnie's in her little bed, I guess she's finally satisfied.