Day 3474

OK. I hear you. You guys like positive thoughts and accomplishments more than cynicism and despair. That's normal. You seem to appreciate a little emotion as well. Hey, if you keep reading long enough I'm sure you'll find both, but sometimes there are long dry spells. That's life. Truthfully, the only times you'll see any real emotion from me is when a dog dies or something life changing happens. Mostly life is about the little things. I go grocery shopping. I pay bills. I cope with the weather. And I wonder why the White Pelican got lost at our lake. It's all good. Little things matter. That being said, I do appreciate your approval when something big happens. I'm glad so many of you recognized that yesterday was a big day.

Today was a bit more subdued. There were no strawberries when I did my weekend grocery shopping and I had to stand in the checkout line again because the convenient little app on my phone doesn't seems to recognize that I'm old enough to buy beer. I picked up some toiletries at CVS and when the woman at the register asked if I had a rewards card I said no. "Why didn't I get my discount," I asked. "You need a reward card to get the discounts," the woman said. OK. I lied. I actually do have a rewards card but I always say no because I don't like getting that mile long CVS receipt. I gave her my number and she rang up my purchase again, tearing off the long roll of useless coupons on the receipt and throwing them in the trash.

I wonder when the city is going to haul away the debris from the wind storm. I see the trucks in other parts of town, but not ours. All the grass in our front yard is going to die because it has been covered up with brush for so long. I still need to get the tree guy to come back and remove what is left of the big Elm tree too. I haven't even begun to get estimates for replacing the green house. I have a feeling that I'll still be thinking about some of these tasks this Fall.

The only thing I've been doing consistently this Summer is walking. I've been walking at least five miles a day even on very hot days like today. One of these days I need to weigh myself before and after one of these walks. I feel like I'm sweating away about a pound of water every time I go outside. At least I'm always wearing a hat now. I discovered today that if I soak the hat in water before I leave, I'm a lot cooler.

The weather is so weird at this time of year. The sky was blue and full of puffy clouds when I began my evening walk. It looked like a nice Summer day. By the time I returned I was hearing thunder and there were ominous dark clouds everywhere. We were under a severe weather alert for a while, but didn't actually get much rain. I'm glad that the worst of the storm passed to the east of us. I'm not ready to go up on the roof again.

It's been two weeks since I've been to the gym. What I was doing last Sunday was certainly a lot more exciting than shooting hoops on the basketball court. I need to start planning a new trip. Maybe a dark sky trip to McDonald Observatory is next.

Sparky is today's Dalmatian of the Day

Watch of the Day