The day was a fairly hot one, so at some point in the afternoon, Gretchen, Robert, and I all drove with the dogs to the Secret Spot on the Esopus to take advantage of the cooling water present there. Eventually we were also joined by Deborah and her hound dog Allou. All of us were enjoying the water except for Sally, who mostly stumbled around among the cobblestones on the beach. Sometimes she'd find herself in a place where the stones were very hot and she'd alternate between standing on different sets of legs (to the extent that she could). Oddly, a single Bumble Bee (or perhaps it was a fly mimic) kept hovering around her as if it was either angry or hoping to exploit her in some way. We'd shoo it away but it kept coming back. To get away from the heat and that oddball insect, I kept carrying Sally back to the water. At one point she even tried to swim, something she could do last summer. But her hind legs were too weak and her head went under and we had to rescue her. Meanwhile, Eleanor and Ramona were both having a great time swimming back and forth across the creek. Allou, on the other hand, would only wade out until water had reached his chest and then he would mouth a series of loud hound dog complaints.
At some point we'd had enough of the water and retreated to a shady spot on the shore to eat snacks that Gretchen had brought. Occasionally rough-housing dogs would careen into our picnic, but for the most part it was pleasant. A steady wind seemed to thwart the insects that would have normally bothered us.
Heading north up 32 south of New Paltz today
The voice is Gretchen commenting about the camcorder I am using. The problem with video equipment is that it introduces lots of observer feedback noise.
