Heat Wave and Drama in the Hood

It was a good call to take a few days off, things already feel better but I'm not going to push it, I will take at least this full week off from running. Not that I won't sneak in a few things on my feet...I'm leaving in a week for Badwater and it's been hot here, 99 degrees the other day felt great outside. In the house is different, we don't have air conditioning except in the bedroom and out in the woman cave, so the basement is the only comfortable spot and that's where the girls hang out.

I've been using ice on my sore spots and I even took a little ibuprofen to get the inflammation down, and it all seems to have helped. I am very tempted to go up to Estes Park and hike the trails below Longs Peak soon, get my high altitude fix before I leave for the desert. I finally got on the bike this morning, it felt good, but it was already hot and I only rode for an hour, but it was on hilly terrain. I am being a slug other than walking the girls, but it feels good.

We've had neighborhood drama around here, there's only one rental in our neighborhood and it happened to just get occupied by some very strange new people last week. We've all been watching. There is something strange about people who just moved into a neighborhood, then shoot illegal fireworks off at 12:30 am the night they move in, and have lots of different cars and people coming and going at all hours, even after they've moved in.

They keep their curtains closed most of the time, parked an ugly trailer full of cardboard boxes outside the house, had a pit bull off the leash and wandering around the yard, and claimed it's a service dog when confronted by one of the neighbors, and they have things like big helium tanks or propane tanks that they moved into the garage, and a lot of other junk. Their garage looks like some hoarders have been living there for the past 40 years, but they've been in there less than a week.

The entire neighborhood is on edge since they moved in, and we're hoping they will get kicked out before they either blow something up or the SWAT Team arrives. So far we can't even tell who the actual residents are because we've seen so many different cars and people. Just really WEIRD.

I wanted to go up to Estes this morning but I woke up too early, set my alarm for 4 am and went back to sleep, but slept through the alarm, so I didn't go. If you don't get up there early enough, there are too many people on the trail, it's hard to find a parking spot, and you miss the best light for taking photographs. I'll try to make it up there next week before I go to Death Valley.

I've been having a productive day here, getting some work done and getting things done around the house. I got Iris out for a walk extra early this morning and we caught all the sprinklers going off on our route. She loves to bite the water in the sprinklers and tries to hit every single one in every yard along the way. It's a game- get the sprinklers- and she is totally drenched by the time she's done, and of course she shakes all the water off on me!

The garden and plants are bouncing back after the killer hailstorm. The raspberries are having a great year, and I replanted the beds with tomatoes, peppers, and beans. The flowers in front are starting to come back and the yellows, golds and oranges are starting to dominate as the early season blues and purples fade.

We're supposed to get hit hard with monsoons starting next week, but we'll see if that's an accurate weather prediction. I will be happy for rain, for several reasons, to water the yard so we don't have to do it, to keep the fires from starting up, and for me to run in. I want to be ready for any kind of weather in Cleveland, and September is the rainiest month. A good long run in the rain would be perfect after this nearly 100 degree heat we've been having.

I hope I get enough rain to be sick of it and ready for the heat again by the time I leave for Badwater!