Gus Tails - Episode 56
The snowstorm of December 2017, Gus briefly experiences snow, a visit from the deer neighbors, and ground breaks in Driftwood.
Welcome to the 56th episode of Gus Tails where we look back at the life of Gus the Basset Hound. Our last episode (Episode 55) covered November and early December of 2017 when Gus was eight years old.
Every episode of Gus Tails contains a link to the previous and, once it is published, future post. This makes it hopefully easy to walk back and forth through the life of Gus and his friends.
If you are new to Gus Tails and want to start at the beginning then Episode 1 of Gus Tails is for you!
Let’s set the stage for this episode focusing on the central Texas snow storm of December 2017. At this point in my life I was working three days a week in The Woodlands, north of Houston, Texas. I would leave Wimberley Monday afternoon around noon and drive to The Woodlands. I would work in The Woodlands Tuesday through Thursday and drive back to Wimberley Thursday evenings. Normally the drive would take 3sh hours, mostly depending on if I stopped for dinner on the way home. The evening of December 7, 2017 the drive took a wee bit longer as the weather degraded as I neared San Marcos, Texas.
Snow is sort of a strange event in central Texas. Most years you don’t see snow. 2017 was a little different. The flurries were coming in strong from the north east, visibility was not good at all, and traffic was slowing down.
By the time I got to the southern edge of Wimberley on Ranch Road 12 the flurries had almost stopped but the damage was done. An accident on the Ranch Road 12 bridge over the Blanco River had shut the road down and I was forced to use back roads to work my way into Wimberley.
My normal 3sh hour drive from The Woodlands to Wimberley took over 5 hours this December 2017 night.
Lynn had waited up for me, so had Dyna. When I got home I let Dyna out on the porch. She wasn’t that thrilled about the feel of snow under her paws but she did walk out to the edge of the porch and looked out on the yard.
We were up early the next morning. Gus was checking out the one patch of uncovered grass in the front yard.
Gus, a Basset Hound from the Houston Gulf Coast, was unfamiliar with this strange, cold, wet white stuff. He doesn’t look at all pleased at the lack of good, dry grass to sniff.
Needless to say, Gus made sure this narrow stretch of green grass against the house was well fertilized that day.
This photo was taken a little before noon on December 8, 2017. Things were warming up and the snow was melting when the deer neighbors came by to visit.
You can see sunlight in this photo. Our rent house in Wimberley looked out on a small creek that ran down to the Blanco River. Notice that sign? Let’s zoom in on it.
The wild creatures constantly trespassed but I think they had a deal with the sign owners. We didn’t, so we didn’t trespass.
Having experienced briefly the snow the night before, Dyna the feral cat was not interested in going outside until all of the snow melted away.
We humans drove out to Driftwood to see how the framing of the foundation of our new house was going. This photo was taken on the way from Wimberley to Driftwood.
Ground had been cleared and the framing for the foundation had begun.
A couple of days later, the snow had melted, the house was decorated for the holidays and Gus was back on the job. Here he is in deep contemplation of what holiday treats will soon be coming his way.
It must have been a cold evening as Gus is tucked up nose to tail.
Hope you enjoyed this episode of Gus Tails. Next week in episode 57 of Gus Tails even more pictures and tails of Gus and his friends.