Day 1601

I got tired of being tired today. I finally got my ass in gear and went down to Fair Park to catch the last day of the Dallas Guitar Show. It was a good day to go, since Janet was home most of the afternoon to keep an eye on the dogs. If you've never been to a guitar show, it's a lot like a classic car show. You'll see a hundred middle aged men before you'll ever see a woman at a guitar show. Lots of guys go to these events, but they're all of a certain age. You'd think that every man between 35 and 60 secretly wanted to be a rock star, because this is who you see at guitar shows. Younger guys go to Comic-Con. Guys like me go to car and guitar shows.

I enjoyed listening to over-the-hill rockers like Andy Timmons and Gary Hoey today. These players aren't exactly household names, but they are revered by other guitar players. I listened to impromptu outdoor concerts by both Andy and Gary this afternoon and discovered why they are both considered to be among the top 100 guitarists of all time. Guitar show concerts are very casual. It's easy to sit right up in front at the frequent concerts and workshops and nobody minds if you come and go as you please. Johnny Winter was the big name on today's bill, but he didn't go onstage until after my dinner time. We all have our priorities.

If I had hung on to the guitars I owned in high school, I could probably retire now. I saw several guitars at the show that were identical to ones I used to play in high school bands. Most were worth at least $4000 now. I can't recall ever paying over $100 for a guitar in high school. I paid for them with money I made mowing lawns. My friends and I never even conceived of the concept of vintage guitars back then. How could we have known that these things would become collectable some day? In high school, guitars were just inexpensive things you bought and sold and occasionally lost or destroyed. My mom gave one of my best guitars to the Goodwill store when I moved out of the house to go to college. Several others suffered equally ignoble fates. Maybe this is why I save everything now.

Dash had a good day. The burn on his neck wasn't quite as red and inflamed today, giving us hope that the ugly wound on his neck will eventually heal and become normal again once he has finished with his radiation treatments. Both dogs had lots of energy and took nice long walks this morning. They didn't want to go anywhere this evening though. It was way too hot. The temperature was over 102 degrees at one point this afternoon. Even in Texas, this is pretty darn hot for early May. Like I have said many times, you can never predict the weather down here. Every day is a new day.

Tomorrow is a milestone day. Dash will receive his very last radiation treatment. They call it graduation day at the cancer center. It's hard to believe that we started this journey back in February. Hopefully, when all is said and done, we will have been able to give Dash back the normal life he deserves. The chemotherapy will continue through the Summer, but the radiation was the roughest part. So far, Dash has shown no side effects whatsoever from the chemotherapy pills. I hope this continues. I need more days like today. I got out of a rut and did something different. Dash got stronger and gave me hope. I didn't even attempt to do any work today. That's the way it ought to be.

Crosby is today's Dalmatian of the Day

Watch of the Day