Weather, Etc

Too many record breaking days, temperature-wise, already this "Spring." We've been in the 80s since late last week. Last night, at 11 something, it was still 62 degrees. I moved up here to get away from heat but it has found me again. I have fans going in every room already... having a houseful of dogs is great in the winter. Their body temperature, especially when they are awake and active, helps keep heating costs down! But in air conditioning weather, it's a drawback. Luckily for me, most of my dogs are getting into middle age (and a few, OLD age) so their activity level is down.

In fact, for three days a tree trimming/brush removing company has been working on my "road," and the dogs are either so hot (or so old!) they stopped barking after the first day! Now here's the thing about that... the work being done, not the barking NOT being done... I live on a private road. That means the county doesn't maintain it. Period. There aren't even road signs or address markers. And since the road itself is a weird mixture of dirt, clay, gravel, some brick, a little black top here and there, it is a mess. Ruts are usually at least a foot deep... twice that after a good downpour. Every once in a while, my neighbor at the top of the hill will put his old tractor to work dragging the entire road. And this degree of maintenance is fine with all of us. We do not want the county in here. However, none of us knows who is paying the tree people for the extensive work they've done. The guys doing the work said they didn't know who hired them; they just go where the dispatcher sends them. I think the electric company hired them to make sure trees were not endangering the power lines. But that doesn't explain the clearing of brush back 10 feet from the roadway. It actually looks rather strange and not at all attractive. BUT it will grow back!

Which brings me to fleas. I've already had to treat the dogs with Advantage! I am NOT looking forward to when it "gets hot" this year.

Triple Crown Season
It's that time of year again! The 3 year olds are getting ready for the "world series" of racing. I've started my annual search for the ONE that I think might be able to finish in the front of the pack three times in a row in May and June. I've been on a few thoroughbred sites... blogs and forums... and gotten some back stories. One of the horses mentioned in several places is Union Rags. And what initially drew me to him is his connection to Barbaro... his trainer is Michael Matz who was Barbaro's trainer. (Even though it was 6 years ago, that whole thing still brings tears to my eyes.) So I looked up Rags' pedigree and all I can say is WOW! It includes such spectacular horses as Secretariat, Swaps, Seattle Slew, Native Dancer, Tim Tam, Bold Ruler... the who's who of thoroughbred stallions! I have yet to see a photo of Union Rags, but I like his background. Except it HAS occurred to me that what made all those horses great varies enormously and all those genes COULD be at odds with each other. Still, I think this is the one I'm going withfor the time being. And now I've found out he is considered one of, if not THE, leading contender this year. Which sort of reduces MY excitement about him. The Derby is 6 weeks away and there is a lot of racing during that time. We'll see how it goes.