Lake Life

It's hotter than hot outside right now.  Remember back when it was SNOVID and we had inches upon inches of snow and everything was frozen?  It's the complete opposite now that it's almost August in Texas.  

Bryan's sense of timing is impeccable because he brought home a boat last week!  We've already been out on the lake twice, making sure that it floats and runs (it does both - phew).  Since it's so hot, jumping in and out of the water is critical to cooling off.  Luckily the boat has a small swim platform and ladder so we can get in and out of the water easily.  There are multiple lakes within two hours of us and Bryan hopes to take the boat and go fishing on them.  

I didn't grow up around boats, lake life, or fishing.  Bryan has had to show me how to unload / load the boat, how to drive it, fill it up with gas, etc etc etc.  It's a crash course and I'm still not confident enough to do all of these things myself / without adult supervision.  Ever the skeptic of "outdoorsy type activities," I'll have to admit that cruising around the lake is kind of nice and feels like a vacation from hot and muggy city life.  The best part?  No bugs!  

During the weekend, we rushed through the morning (aka the coolest part of the day) to get all the animal chores done, so we could be out on the lake at a reasonable hour and not fry to a crisp.  It's so warm out that by 9 am, Mae is already halfway covered in sweat from standing outside in turnout and is not excited about being ridden.  After a walk / trot warm up for 15 minutes, she's ready to head back to the barn for a rinse down.  I don't blame her, we're both dripping sweat at this point.  So far we've been stubbornly sticking to a 30 minute hack but I may shorten it when temps jump up to triple digits.  

Bowie is the exact opposite because his spoiled butt lives inside in the AC.  He is ready to GO despite the heat.  His endurance is greatly curtailed due to the higher temps, but he still tries his heart out and we have to make him slow down to cool off.  He caught a rabbit on a walk the other evening and since then, he's a maniac to try to restrain on our daily walks.  We've taken him out on the boat but haven't found a nice place to park and swim yet.  We're shopping for doggy life jackets (insert eye roll here).

The dog days of summer are long and hot.  It's the perfect time to sit in a dark room with the fan running and read a book.  Or eat popsicles standing over the kitchen sink.  Or apparently jumping into the lake.  How are y'all coping with the dog days of summer?