Day 3733

I took a final walk around the mountain early this morning before saying goodby to a place I'd grown to love. Birds were starting to sing. The deer were grazing. The skies were starting to clear after last night's rain. It looked like it was going to be a good day. Too bad I wouldn't be able to enjoy it. It's still hard to believe that the observatory will be closed for 37 days. It seems like overkill to me. Call me a skeptic, but I think a lot of places are closing simply to avoid a lawsuit. If you are closed, nobody can blame you for making them sick.

It's a long drive from the Davis Mountain to Dallas. As I left the solitude of Mount Locke, I expected things to change. Oddly, the quiet seemed to continue. Sometimes the traffic is bad on I-20, but not today. The traffic was surprisingly light. I turned on the radio in the car and discovered that there was no escape from the coronavirus. Sirius XM already has a dedicated coronavirus channel. I turned the radio off. I've already heard enough about washing my hands and hoarding toilet paper.

I approached Abilene in heavy fog. The thousands of wind generators that dot the landscape in this part of the country all seemed to disappear into the sky. You'd see part of a blade descend out of the clouds and then disappear again as it continued to rotate. Hundreds of wind generators obscured by fog would have made a great picture, but there are few places to stop on the freeway. I continued to drive. I'll just have to remember this picture in my head. I just wasn't in the mood to look for an exit and search for backroads, just so I could capture a moody shot of some windmills.

I didn't see a single Land Rover on the road until I was approaching Fort Worth. It still seems ironic to me that this go anywhere vehicle is only seen in upscale, urban parts of Texas. When farmers and ranchers need to leave the highway, they take their truck. The absence of imported cars in remote parts of West Texas is making me rethink my affection for Citroën and Land Rover vehicles. Maybe it would be better to just buy a normal American car next time. The last time I traveled to the Davis Mountains I rented a Cadillac. This time I rented a Chevrolet Impala. Both cars were just fine.

When I turned off the alarm on my phone this morning I noticed a message saying that I had a dental appointment. I immediately called the dentist and left a message that I was out of town and would need to reschedule. It was only later that it occurred to me that the dentist never works on Saturday and that Apple phones always list your next appointment, no matter when it happens to be. It was a little embarrassing to realize that my next appointment of any kind was April 7. Such a busy guy I am these days. Oh, well. I'm sure my dentist is used to dealing with old people by now.

I'm not sure that Dawn initially recognized me when I returned home late this afternoon. She gave me a big nervous smile and looked at Janet as if to warn her there was a stranger in the house. She warmed up quickly though after I gave her a few treats. We're buddy's again now.

Humphrey is today's Dalmatian of the Day

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