"Dog" Days

11:20AM

August is usually referred to as the "Dog Days" of summer, at least in Ohio....this early August 2007 is no exception. We have been in the 90s with humidity to match since the calendar changed from July(a rather mild July at that). Sitting here with my XM Radio tuned to Channel 6(60s music and nothing else).

Today was a Dog Day...took Reagan, the 9 year old Airedale, out to the vet for her allergy shot this morning...have had at least one Airedale in the family since 1974, raised many a litter of pups in those 33 years, and had some good dogs, only a few "clunkers"....the Airedale is a regal breed, and not many have been involved as our family with them over the years.

The rest of the day will consist of picking up Sam at the bus stop in Dayton, now moved back to 3:15....22 hours via bus, not a fun thing...but I guess the young can handle it if they have to. State Football Rules Meeting at Lima tonight at 7:15, so although nothing physically demanding, it will be a long day by the time I return from Lima. On a similar note, I picked up another scrimmage, this one, a Freshman game at Celina next Thursday.

27 Years ago

____________This week in 1980 I was making my transition from radio News Director to DJ, having moved from Dodge City back to Celina. My best friend Rick Pearson and I headed back to Dodge to pick up my Jeep Cherokee and a few belongings...the Jeep was in the shop for repairs, I had to have another driver, and Rick was willing and able. We headed out to Kansas, and the next few days were a story in itself.

Borrowed my brother Mike's Ford Pick-Up and headed west, hot it was, as we headed southwest out of Salina, Kansas(yes pronounced the same as Celina, Ohio), with a cooler full of beer and pop, we picked up a guy our age hitchhiking to somewhere southwest of Dodge City, so we told him to grab a bag in the back of the covered pick up and sit back there, in the heat there was no way we were going to sit 3 in the lone bench seat....told the guy to have a couple of beers and pop if he wanted and make sure he opened the side windows, we would open the sliding window so he could get a share of the A/C....the guy ended up pounding down about 4 beers in the 150 mile stretch of Highway 56 to DC....we dropped him off at a watering hole, just kind of poured him out....he thanked us for the ride and beer.

The Jeep was ready, but we wanted to see the Rockies, so the next morning, after staying at my rented house(good through the end of the month), we headed out across the hinterland of western Kansas into Colorado. West of Pueblo, we arrived in Canon City the next afternoon....asked around for the best scenic road to Cripple Creek, and were given directions to what the locals called Red Horse Road.....it turned out to be a great view for sure....Red Horse was a one(2 lanes at times) dirt road winding path towards Victor and Cripple Creek. Once there we hit a couple of bars and talked with the locals(mind you this was before they turned these basic Ghost Towns into Condo Cities)....we ended up sleeping in the back of the truck on the shores of Cripple Creek, next morning we got up, panned for a little gold(Rick was a Geology Major at Ohio University), found some specks, bottled it, and headed back for Dodge.

We spent one more night in the rental house, packed our cooler with ice and beer...Rick drove my Jeep, I drove the Ford back....all-in-all it was only 4 or 5 days, but one of the most memorable "vacations" I had. The next week I was sitting behind the mic at WCSM, doing the morning show.

prh 8/8/07