Day 2640

Every time I write a letter I keep thinking that if everybody would just read the blog, there would be no need to keep in touch. It's all here really. Despite the duplicate narrative, I still write my sister. We haven't seen each other or spoken on the phone in decades, but the occasional letter still reminds us that we are family. I used to be a lot better at letter writing before the Internet made me lazy. There was a long list of people I corresponded with and I even dabbled in mail art for a while. That's all gone now. The only person I write is my sister and my one page, single spaced messages are basically just a personalized blog post. Today's letter was very similar to yesterday's blog entry with a little extra information about the dogs. I really should pay more attention to friends and family, but like I say, it's all here if they're interested.

Dot's left rear leg continues to get weaker. If I don't guide her, she just walks around in circles now. I take a break and sit in the grass with her before we return from our short afternoon walks. The weather is nice and she likes the breeze and the fresh air. The rest is necessary because she tires so easily now. It's sad to watch this slow decline. We've been doing this dance of diminishing returns for over two years now. The deterioration is so slow that we continue to adapt and after a while it just seems normal. I dread the day when the cancer finally overtakes her. The oncologist says we've still got a while, but when her liver begins to fail the end will come quickly.

These days go so slowly now. It takes me about an hour to drink my smoothie in the morning. The concoction, filled with raw eggs, oatmeal, fresh strawberries, blueberries, bananas, and ice cream is least a quart in size and is typically my main meal of the day. There's no hurry. I sip the huge smoothie while drinking two cups of strong coffee as I watch the morning news. I channel hop between liberal and conservative stations until I am sufficiently discouraged and then I watch old Dr. Who reruns. Usually Dash is right there with me, barking for slices of banana.

Usually after breakfast there is time for one serious work related task. One job a day is all I feel like doing these days anyway. I let the dogs sleep as long as they want in the morning because they never sleep in the afternoon. I have to get Dot up at 2 PM to give her some meds and from that point on, it's a three ring circus. To keep the dogs engaged, I have split their dinner into two parts, separated by Dot's afternoon walk. It takes almost 45 minutes to walk Dot to the end of the street where she can enjoy sitting in the park for a while. When I return, we do part two of dinner and then I take Dash for his afternoon walk. This works pretty well, because Dot is usually tired at this point and will sleep while we are away. When she relaxes and goes to sleep, Dot often poops. At least 30% of the time, there is poop to clean up when I return with Dash.

The sky was clear tonight so I did a little exploring with the new binoculars. Binoculars are great for deep sky objects. The Orion Nebula looked spectacular, but the moon was too bright to see some of the other deep sky objects I was looking for. A lot of things are out of reach as long as I live in Dallas. There is way too much light pollution in the night sky. I don't think I've ever seen the Milky Way inside the city limits of Dallas. Light pollution or not, the binoculars are a good diversion. There is a lot to see in the night sky.

I suspect that tomorrow will be a lot like today. That's OK though. The dogs will make sure that I don't become complacent.

Connor is today's Dalmatian of the Day

Watch of the Day