Day 2049

Dash seemed more comfortable at the small dog park this morning. He politely greeted several other dogs and there was even a brief moment when he ran from one end of the park to the other, just like the old days. Taking Dash to the dog park, as well as walking both dogs together first thing in the morning, has pushed breakfast back a bit, but it's worth it. Life around the house has changed a bit since Dot's spinal injury and it's important that Dash still has a chance to feel like a normal dog now and then. A trip to the dog park on Sunday isn't much, but it seems to help.

A trip to the gym on Sunday isn't much either, but it seems to help too. I've started going right after breakfast, since I've noticed that the longer I wait, the more excuses I come up with for not going. Since this token gesture to health and fitness actually seems to be doing some good, it has occurred to me that maybe I ought to designate a special day for other activities as well. If I devoted one day each week to practicing the guitar, I might actually become a decent player again. I used to play pretty well in my younger days when there always seemed to be a guitar in my hands. The old Stratocaster isn't going to play itself. Sometimes I think I just use carpal tunnel as an excuse not to play. I'm good at making excuses.

If we continue this theme, I could definitely benefit from spending one day each week honing my video editing skills. I used to immerse myself in film projects for weeks at a time and became an excellent editor in the process. Now, I edit video so infrequently that I've almost forgotten how to use Media Composer. Ironically, I tell people to "use it or lose it" all the time. Maybe it's time that I practice what I preach.

I'll be the first to acknowledge that priorities change. When I was a documentary filmmaker and guitar maven, I didn't have dogs. My late in life love affair with dogs led to having veterinarians as clients and then expanded to animal rescue. I wouldn't change anything for the world, but I still wish I could play guitar like I used to.

There isn't enough time and there isn't enough energy anymore. Instead of writing a new song, I vacuumed the house with the Dyson and got out a bottle of bleach and a scrub brush to clean the soap scum and mildew off the shower stall walls. The shower stall had been getting worse and worse for months and it finally reached the point where I couldn't stand it anymore. There you have it. Keeping Dot moving, keeping the house from falling apart, and keeping my aging body from deteriorating even further had used up the entire day.

I've got some websites to modify tomorrow. Several Dalmatians got adopted this weekend, so I need to see how hard it is going to be to update the new mobile ready site I designed a few weeks ago. Responsive websites are turning out to be a lot harder to modify than I expected. It's not a terrible problem since I don't have a lot of clients anymore, but small changes do take more time. The need to keep working is another reason why I don't practice the guitar as much as I should. I need to send a note to my primary writing client and ask why the article assignments have dropped off again. I don't have nearly as many writing assignments as I did last Summer. I'm not complaining though. Janet bought a fresh supply of bananas and peaches, so I'll have a delicious smoothy for breakfast tomorrow. Dot actually had a great day today and was even able to walk about the house without her harness for a while. One way or another, we're going to make it through this hot Summer.

Smokey is today's Dalmatian of the Day

Watch of the Day