Caught Off Guard

It is hot.

It is very hot and very dry, and LC, Kory and I have been spending more time indoors than out, over the past week.

Even my athletic, energetic, fun loving pup is not doing well in this heat.

In the dog days of summer the weather barely changes.

Hot.   Dry.  Endless sun.  An increasingly parched Snake River Plain.

Gone is the lush green of spring after seemingly endless snow in the winter and seemingly endless rain in the spring.

It was nice while it lasted, but not usual for this region.

But already I miss the green..............

A couple of days ago, while it was still early morning (and before the heat built too badly) we took a drive out onto BLM land.

A couple of miles along a dusty, double track trail and we pulled up a hill, parked the Suburban in the middle of the trail and climbed out.

Kory immediately and excitedly ran in circles before setting off to investigate sage bushes and the possible presence of rabbits.

We did not spend a long time out there.

Too dry.  Too hot.  

Just long enough to let Kory expend some of her boundless energy, and while we watched her I turned and snapped the picture above.

LC leaning against an old, rusted out metal water trough, that has not been used in the three years we have been here.

Just one more piece of random equipment that has been abandoned in the desert by uncaring folks once it was no longer needed.........................

A late walk in town with Kory at the end of an energy-draining, hot day.
I haven't walked a lot in town with Kory recently.
A couple of weeks ago she and I were both attacked by a vicious dog that moved into town in the spring with his vicious owner.
The new owner of the raceway.  The same new owner of the bar.  The same new owner of a couple of other pieces of property in town.
The same new owner who apparently has established a bad reputation at other race tracks in the past, throughout the region.
The same new owner who is slowly trashing the far end of the town with his junk.
The same new owner whose dog had already bitten one of his low life employees and whose dog thankfully was wearing a muzzle when it charged at both me and Kory.
Neither Kory nor I heard it coming, but when we finally did we both turned in unison at the unexpected noise.
The dog was in full charge and only a few feet away from us, when Kory and I first realized it was upon us.
Kory was thankfully uninjured.  
A few of my fingers received deep rope burns from a leash that was suddenly and unexpectedly caught up in the mayhem of two battling dogs.
I called LC to come pick us up, we drove down to the bar to confront the owner.
Let's just say that it did not go well.
At all.
But the attack was recorded by the sheriffs department as well as animal control.
Animal Control came out, took my statement, and the owner has been warned.
Suffice to say, we do not think highly of this individual.
While my hands healed I took Kory out onto BLM land and will likely continue to do that, at least through the summer. 
Over the past few months I had gone out of my way to be friendly to this individual.  Welcoming.  Polite.  Helpful.
There are just some people you cannot be friendly, welcoming, polite or helpful to.
Some people who have no moral foundation, no caring or consideration, and no moral compass.
I am reminded yet again, just how little I like people.................

On one more late evening LC, Kory and I again wandered onto BLM land.

This time we headed to a place a few miles from town that we affectionately refer to as our Little Grand Canyon.

In truth, it is simply an old gravel pit in the middle of nothing and nowhere.

A huge hole in the ground.

At this time of year we don't wander into the pit.

Rattlesnakes like gravel pits.

So we've been told.

And we have no desire to either prove or disprove that belief.

And so while Kory ran, LC and I slowly wandered on a trail.

Enjoying the view of the mountains (there is still snow in some of the higher peaks), enjoying the rapidly fading green of the desert, enjoying the cooler late evening temperatures, and enjoying each others company..............

Some more random pictures of the yard.................

Underneath my imagination there didn't seem to be anything solid except for the space where I shoved my pain and sadness. Besides that, there were only twisted steel threads of anxiety, woven through my body and brain, wired into me like a constant warning. Watch out, stay still, move away, stay silent, fight back, run and hide. Even when I was dreaming, but more so when I was awake, there was the constant fear of being caught off-guard, or by the wrong person at the wrong time............Jane Devin