Well it has been two days now and Murphy isn't so sure he likes all those young men walking around in his backyard. Of course last night we had a bit of a scare. It has been a relatively calm summer with only one week with a stretch of very hot humid weather but that didn't produce any of the kind of storms the summers here are known for. But last night was different, with the cold air coming down from the north and the day, warm at 85 in the shade, was a hot humid day. By evening all around us there were thunderstorm cells developing with tornadic winds and even the husband was called off the golf course because of the storm, so it must be serious. (evil grin)
Having lived in this house now over 11 years, I have to say in all that time I can remember only once where I actually went to the basement during a tornado warning and had Mark with me. That's not to say I haven't been there before on my own or at least with the dogs (Maggie our Newfy hated to go down steps so she waited out on the landing to the basement) many times and last night looked to be another of those times. Murphy wasn't so sure about how dark (or should I say grey/green) it got so early in the evening and there was of course thundering in the distance (some big hunting dog he is going to make). First thing to prepare for a possible trip to the basement, I put on his flat collar with IDs, when he walks he wears one of those spikey choke collars to make him behave, and kept his leash near in case I heard the siren and we had to run to the basement in a hurry. I was sitting at my desk in the kitchen and looked out at all the fencing material that was laying in the yard.
Just my luck when we finally find a local contractor who could do the job at a reasonable price and within a time frame we could live with, it could all be blown away in a blink of an eye. The young men had been out all day on the fence, which is two sides chain link and one side wood (the other is the house). All the poles had been set in concrete and stood like little sentinels in the yard, but nothing was protecting the bales of chain link and piles of wood littering the yard that would be exposed to the high winds that were sure to blow the lot across the street into our neighbor's house. At least we knew where to get it when the dust settled.
I watched the storms on my laptop, charging it as I went knowing that usually the first thing to go in such a storm was the electricity, Not having a radio station locally that I can stomach listening to, I use my laptop for weather reports. In the past this has worked beautifully and is often more accurate than the local "shitkicker" radio station. As the night progressed it grew apparent the “fence gods” were with us because most of the storms that rolled through this part of the state missed us by either going too far south (sorry my friends in the Chicago area) or just enough north (ten miles) so that we got only distant thunder and drenched with rain, which we need badly. The fence material was safe for the night, as long as the neighborhood graffiti artists weren’t drawn to piles of fresh unpainted wood.
Today is a beautiful warm, not hot, day with the sun shinning and I hear the buzz saw cutting wood and the pounding of nails in wood railings along the sidewalk side of the house. As to Murphy, well he has resolved himself to those men being back in his yard again. They have the chain link up and attached. Only the wood privacy side is left to be finished. What was meant to be a two-day project actually is a two-day project, how novel. Murphy is going to love having a whole area to run and chase balls and Frisbees without having to be on a long leash. And I am hoping that we actually get our living room back. As mentioned before Murphy has acted as if the outside is for his daily business and for laying in the warm sun while the living room is his own personal gym. The bigger he gets, (65 pounds at 7 months) the more it hurts when he does a bank shot off your body when you are sitting on the couch watching TV.
Mark just reported in that apparently they wont be totally done today, I spoke too soon. At the back door of the house, which opens out onto the fenced yard, there is to be a gate that allows one into the rest of the back yard toward the deck and garage, (we only enclosed about a third of the side yard). Apparently the size of the gate is being custom made, we wanted it a bit bigger than normal to get things into the area, and it isn't complete yet. So a bit disappointed to be sure, as I want Murphy out there today, we have decided the gate from his kennel can be bungee corded into the area until the other arrives. Nothing is keeping me from getting that dog out into the yard today. Other than a few walks with Mark, he has missed playing in his pool in little kennel and I have missed the hour intervals where I actually had some free time to get a few things done without having to trip over dog, rawhide chews and chewed up tennis balls.
Well, I will post some pictures later today or tomorrow, whenever we can find the cord to download them to the laptops.
Jody and Murphy
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