Day 2589

I love fog. We've had foggy mornings for the past several days and I like the way it allows me to look at the ordinary things I see every day from a completely different perspective. Fog has a way of separating the foreground from the background, forcing you to look at one thing at a time. The effect is very similar to the out of focus bokeh you get when when you take a photograph with a very shallow depth of field. Almost everything looks prettier when it is the only object in sharp focus. I try to look at life this way, always concentrating on one thing at a time. One a clear day, my eye is always multitasking, trying to interpret too many things at once. A foggy day seems much more natural to me.

On my way to the gym this afternoon, I stopped at the REI store and got a cool winter coat with a Christmas gift card that Janet had given me. I've certainly changed the way I dress over the past five years. There was a time when I had a menswear client and chose to get paid in clothes. I dressed fabulously for a while, but it was all kind of pointless. Who was I trying to impress anyway?  Nobody needs big dry cleaning bills and I prefer clothes that look good covered with dog hair anyway. I just wonder why it took me so long to discover camping clothes.

I'm beginning to realize that I don't get any more sleep on weekends. Sure, we get up later on weekends, but we tend to go to bed later too. The net result is about the same. Maybe I'm destined to get 5 to 6 hours sleep, no matter what happens. One thing I've learned by wearing a fitness tracker is that I go to sleep very quickly. Apparent insomnia is not a problem with me. Even when I wake up several times a night to take care of Dot, I'm back asleep again five minutes later. When I eventually got up for breakfast this morning, I'd almost forgotten that I'd already taken Dot outside to pee at 4:30 AM and then re-made her bed for her before we both went back to sleep.

It's raining cats and dogs right now. I took Dash outside to pee right after dinner and he was just getting ready to go when a giant thunderclap scared him and he went racing for the back door. He must not have had to go very bad, because he's sleeping under my desk right now. I'm glad we don't live in Fort Worth, because they're under a tornado watch right now. I think we're in the clear though. The storm is headed in a northerly direction. If it were headed east, I'd be under the desk with Dash.

I've often wondered why I'm not building any muscle mass as the gym. Now I know the answer. I read an article recently that said almost everybody will eventually lose up to 30% of their muscle fiber as they age. The muscle atrophy begins when you reach 50 and becomes much more dramatic when you reach 60. This muscle tissue won't come back, no matter what you do, so if you want to remain strong you have to work extra hard to build up the muscle fiber you still have left. Normal cardio exercises like cycling or walking on a treadmill won't build muscle mass at all. You need to start lifting free weights and push yourself to your limits. This explains why I'm not making much progress. It's too bad that I hate lifting weights. Oh well, at least my heart is in pretty good shape.

Tomorrow is a holiday. I'm sure this makes a difference to Janet and everyone else to goes off to work every morning. It's going to just seem like a Monday to me though.

Betty is today's Dalmatian of the Day

Watch of the Day