We literally went from ninety degrees to sweater weather overnight. It was cold when I woke up this morning. The furnace was running and it was still raining outside. We must have got a lot of rain last night. Thunder and lightning woke me up several times during the night. I turned on the two pumps on the roof and fixed myself a bowl of cereal. It definitely wasn't worth going out for breakfast on a nasty day like this.
Eventually, the rain stopped and I got ready to take my walk. For the first time in months I wore long pants and a jacket. I guess this is a preview of what it's going to be like this winter. It's hard to say which is worse: heat and humidity, or a biting cold wind. I was cold this morning. My knees and shoulder felt even worse than usual. After the first mile, my body started to warm up and I began noticing all the changes at the lake.
The Egrets and Herons have been replaced by Double-Crested Cormorants. The Cormorant population seems to have tripled overnight. The Raptors have returned as well. I saw three large hawks this morning. I think these birds were Red-tailed Hawks but at least one of them could have been a Red-shouldered Hawk. I haven't seen any Kestrels yet, but as the weather gets colder they become plentiful. It's amazing howe quickly birds adapt to changing weather. I wish I adapted as quickly. I'm still wondering where yesterday's warm weather went.
I was disappointed to see how much water was on the roof. Even with the pumps running, it took me over an hour to sweep it away. This is probably why my shoulder hurts. If only the roofers had been able to bring me the silicon material a week earlier. There was so much rain last night that some of the water managed to get under the elastomer coating again. This is going to make my repair job a lot more difficult. It's frustrating. You can't apply the coating unless the roof is completely dry. Now that the weather has turned colder this drying process is going to take longer. Since there is already rain in the forecast for next Monday and Tuesday, this doesn't look good.
I kept wondering why the roads seemed so crowded today The stores were crowded too. When I went to the grocery store to pick up something for dinner, I had trouble even finding a parking place. Then I remembered that it was Texas OU Weekend. This annual football rivalry between the University of Texas and Oklahoma is hugely popular in Dallas. Personally, I don't think tomorrow would be a good day to go to the state fair since the game is at the Cotton Bowl. Probably not the best time to go out to dinner or a bar either. I had enough trouble buying groceries today. I'm just going to lay low until the crowds subside.
I felt unusually tired today. Somehow the thought of traveling around the country attending rocket launches and visiting observatories seemed exhausting. Maybe I'm just getting used to the changing weather, but all I really wanted to do today was take a long nap. I'll try to get a good night's sleep tonight. I can't be tired. There's a lot I need to do this weekend.
Katuy is today's Dalmatian of the Day |
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