Day 3841

I finally got the grass mowed. I thought about waiting until the weather was cooler, but I'd probably be waiting until Fall. Temperatures are expected to be in the 90's for the rest of the week with a few triple digit days thrown in for good measure. The Saharan dust cloud appears to have returned as well. It definitely wasn't a great day to be outside. At any rate, the yard looks better now and I got some exercise. I'm glad we have a small yard.

We got our earliest start yet on Dawn's morning walk, but we still had to cut things short today. Instead of our usual five mile walk, we only walked four miles. Since at least half of our walk was completed before sunrise, Dawn was fine. Dawn still loves these morning walks, but we have to be careful that she doesn't become overheated. I have a feeling that our walks are going to become even shorter in the weeks ahead.

I watched a Space X military launch on my computer this afternoon. Some of my Florida photographer friends were there, setting up cameras right next to the launch pad. I wonder whether I'll ever be able to do this again. I was just getting started as a space journalist and then the pandemic happened. Since both Florida and Texas are hotspots now, I'm not anticipating getting clearance to return to Kennedy Space Center any time soon. I shouldn't complain though. There are worse places to be quarantined than where I live. Even though the vegetation is starting to dry out, the park is still a beautiful place. There are fewer flowers now, but I enjoy listening to the birds and trying to identify them.

Dawn enjoys the wildlife too. She saw her first rabbit up close this morning. I'm glad she was on a leash. She was a little too interested in this bunny. A lot of Dalmatians have a strong prey drive. Spot and Dot would chase squirrels for hours. Dot even caught one once. Greta went after birds. I have a feeling that Dawn would have gone after this rabbit. I guess it's not as bad as having a cat. We've never had a Dalmatian try to bring a dead mouse into the house.

I wish I'd gotten a haircut when the stores first opened. Now I'm becoming reluctant to go out in public again. Dallas has been setting new records for Covid-19 infections every day for the past week. Twenty people died yesterday. We're still doing a lot better than Houston or Austin, but the trend isn't your friend here. I'm sure the park will be full of people barbecuing and having parties on July 4. It's no problem staying away from these people since the park is huge, but it's still a little sad to see so many folks ignoring everything.

The dermatologist must have known what he was doing. The scabs on my face are starting to peel away and my skin looks clear again. Like many things involving medicine, I should have done this procedure earlier. Hey, better late than never. I'm glad I don't have to return to a hospital any time soon. I don't want to go anywhere near a hospital right now.

I need to think of something to do around the house that doesn't involve cleaning tomorrow. I'm the expert at isolation, but I'm becoming bored. I'm realizing now that working saved me from cabin fever for many years. Staring at a computer when you are working and making money is one thing. Staring at the same computer when you are retired is something else entirely. I don't recommend it.

Tucker is today's Dalmatian of the Day

Watch of the Day

Day 3840

I almost forgot it was Monday until Janet reminded me that it was time to go visit the rescue Dalmatians. There are still only two dogs at the kennel, but we don't want to forget about them. Hank and Charlie were in fine form today. Both of these high energy boys love to race around and chase a ball. Sometimes they will even bring it back to you. Hank is deaf and we're starting to make progress in teaching him simple commands. Today for the first time, he sat fairly reliably for his treats. Once Hank has mastered the sit, we'll work on stay, heal, and a few other basic commands. Charlie already knows all these commands plus a few more. Charlie and Hank have taken longer to adopt because they each have special needs. For the right person, each of these guys would make a wonderful pet. I heep hoping they'll find their forever homes soon.

I didn't accomplish much today. We probably should have started our morning walk a little earlier because the temperature keeps climbing. The longest day of the year is already behind us and the Fourth of July will be here soon. We're in the middle of another Texas Summer. Dawn did OK this morning, but we're going to have to start taking shorter walks. If we keep leaving around sunrise, I think we can complete three miles pretty easy. Five miles is probably to be too much. The trouble is that the temperature climbs quickly as the sun gets higher in the sky. By 9 AM it's all over.

I made my morning smoothie without blueberries this morning. It was fine. Sometimes I don't think it even matters what I put in the Vitamix. The ingredients vary depending on the time of year, but the result is always pretty tasty. How did I get hooked on a liquid breakfast? I used to fix myself sausage and eggs every morning. Before that, I ate a grapefruit for breakfast. Somehow alternating sips of hot coffee with an ice cold beverage seems the thing to do right now. The only thing I missed when I spent that week out at McDonald Observatory was my morning smoothie.

I wonder if the observatory and Kennedy Space Center will ever reopen? I check my e-mail every morning but there is still no news. The space center has probably discovered that life is easier without a large media contingent at every launch. Since the Davis Mountains are one of the few places in the country without any virus infections, I wonder if McDonald Observatory is ever going to want visitors from a big city again. Life is changing. We used to like spending time in places like Paris and Barcelona. I doubt that we'll be doing that again. I doubt that we'll be going anywhere at all for the foreseeable future. It's too bad that neither of us likes camping. I think it's still pretty safe to go camping.

One of my favorite houses in the neighborhood got scraped this week. It's gone. I remember that there was a time when we wanted to buy this house. Why would anyone want to tear it down? Of course there is always an easy answer. Real estate is always about money.. A developer could easily fit two contemporary McMansions of the large double lot. Like I said, life is changing. I just don't like where we are headed.

I guess I'll finish mowing the grass tomorrow. Hank and Charlie gave me an excuse to avoid this chore today. The only excuse I'll have tomorrow is if we get more rain.

Sparky is today's Dalmatian of the Day

Watch of the Day

Day 3839

I had good intentions today. I was definitely going to mow the yard. I got out the mower, charged the battery, and was just starting to mow when a surprise storm appeared out of nowhere. It wasn't even supposed to rain today. I put the mower away and waited for things to dry, which of course they never did. So much for good intentions.

When we walked Dawn earlier in the day, we weren't even thinking about rain. It actually seemed like it was going to be a nice day. I could see patches of blue through the clouds and yesterday's big dust cloud appeared to have dissipated. It's amazing how quickly the weather can change in Texas.

I went back to the grocery store right after breakfast to test out a theory that I was just getting to the store too late for find blueberries and Clorox Wipes. This was a totally wasted effort. I didn't notice any difference at all and still couldn't find the things I wanted. I did get gas though. Yesterday, I forgot to bring a doggie poop bag with me so I could avoid touching the pump handle.  This is what social media has done to me. I have been grabbing gas station pump handles for most of my life with no adverse effects and now I've become convinced that they are riddled with disease. Who knows if the virus even lives on surfaces. Opinion seems to be changing on this. You literally don't know what to believe anymore when everything has the potential to either be fake news or an outdated medical opinion.

I've got a bad case of pandemic boredom, but for some reason I am unable to binge watch anything on TV. Janet can do it. Most of my friends can do it, but I just can't. I've tried watching podcasts on things I'm interested in like astronomy and rockets, but I quickly lose interest in these as well. It seems like the only thing I can stay focused on for any length of time is creating something myself. Mostly I'm a self-absorbed documentarian.

When I was younger, I wrote a lot of songs about my experiences. I still record my experiences photographically, but not as obsessively as I used to. Although I am fascinated with astronomy and space travel, all I really want to write about is how I personally interact with these things. I've basically just become a geeky travel writer. The blog, of course, is just an endless personal journal.

Does any of this even matter? Probably not. It does make me frightened when I see groups of people trying to do something for the "common good." How do they know what is good for everyone? They certainly don't know what is good for me. The whole notion of good is very subjective and has changed radically throughout history. To me the hive mind that social media has created is extremely dangerous. It's considered old fashioned in today's connected world, but I still believe in the individual. I'm convinced that if everyone concentrated on maximizing their own potential, instead of sticking their noses in other people's business, the world would be a much better place.

When I see people walking in the woods while obsessively looking at their phone, I think the whole concept of the individual doesn't even exist anymore. Critical thinking is a lost art. Young people just want to instantly know what everyone else is doing so they can do the same thing. When flash mobs first began to appear, people thought they were so creative. All the sudden an orchestra would appear and start playing in a shopping mall or something. I was one of the few people who found these things alarming. I saw flash mobs as a precursor to what is happening in our cities right now.
It's not good to be instantly connected to everything. You need time to think about things.

I've done a lot of critical thinking and somehow my plans all seem to involve turning off the Internet for a while. Don't you think that if Twitter, Facebook, and the ubiquitous 24/7 news cycle would just disappear, our world might actually start to heal? Talking to your neighbor over coffee is probably good. Getting mad at a Facebook post from someone you don't even know is probably bad. Just saying...

Patch is today's Dalmatian of the Day

Watch of the Day

Day 3838

The Saharan Dust Cloud has arrived in Dallas. The sky has looked gray and hazy all day. No spectacular sunsets here. The dust was so thick that I kept thinking I could smell it. This dismal science fiction sky seemed the perfect companion for a world ravaged by disease and riots. The Saharan Dust plume is a yearly event, but they say that this year's cloud is the thickest ever recorded. There have been air quality alerts all over Texas today. Hey, it's 2020. What else would you expect.

I wonder when grocery stores will get back to normal. The stores aren't crowded anymore but there seem to be too many of some items and not enough of others. There is an enormous amount of bottled water and toilet paper in some stores now, but I haven't been able to find blueberries for two weeks. Still can't find Clorox Wipes. Sooner or later there will be a huge end aisle display of those too. It will probably be right next to the towering piles of toilet paper.

Texas is a virus hot-spot now, but businesses seem very reluctant to close again. There seems to be a strong desire to ignore the latest news even though area hospitals are quietly reaching capacity. Dallas had the states very first pop-up emergency hospital back in April, but it was never used. The hospital was dismantled and there appears to be no plan to bring it back. It's all very weird. Everyone was very good about preparing for the virus when it was still in the Northeast. Now that it's actually here, people have grown tired of the whole mess.

There are lots more walkers in the park than there used to be. Maybe I'm not the only one who thinks staying healthy is your only real defense. They say bicycle sales have skyrocketed. It sure seems that way. I wish we didn't share the same trails with these cyclists. You have to be careful when you are walking your dog. Cyclists won't slow down for anything.

We got take-out for dinner this evening and I used one of those curbside pick up arrangements for the first time to get our food. Everything was very efficient. You called your order in and when you arrived, they brought it out to your car in a big bag and swiped your credit card with a mobile terminal. I didn't have to wait long at all. The restaurant seemed to be doing a very good business. There was a steady stream of people bringing bags out to cars. I have a feeling that this particular restaurant is doing just fine. Some businesses will learn to adapt to this new environment and others will disappear.

I'm not sure how adaptable I am at this point. I'm envious of my friends out in the Davis Mountains. They seem insulated from all the urban problems we are facing now. I hope the virus and civil unrest never reaches these remote rural areas. When this is all over, we need some reminder of what life was like before.

Rascal is today's Dalmatian of the Day

Watch of the Day

Day 3837

We've noticed that Dawn is more comfortable around women than men. I guess this is understandable. When she was used as a breeding dog, Dawn was owned by two men who didn't treat her very well. Dawn is friendly with me when Janet is home, but always seems a bit nervous when she and I are alone together. Usually she will just sit in the center of the bed until Janet returns. She will let me bring her a treat, but never follows me around the house or even goes outside. It's kind of sad. I'm good around dogs and have spend an enormous percentage of the past thirty years with a Dalmatian as my constant companion. I wonder how long it will take to win her trust?

I think we are doing all the right things. I'm the one who feeds her and gets her ready for walks in the morning. We're trying to get her to associate me with positive things. Dawn is eager to follow me to the kitchen and loves to be petted when Janet is home. She's certainly not unfriendly when we are alone, just wary, like she's waiting for the other shoe to drop. You never really know what a rescue dog's life was like before they enter the adoption program. Dawn clearly loves her new life. I've rarely seen a dog so happy to do simple basic things. She must have had some very bad experiences though when she was a puppy mill mom. Some memories never fade.

I'm a patient person, so hopefully I will win Dawn's trust over time. We are already starting to see some progress. It's something to work on. Janet loves to travel and if this coronavirus mess ever gets resolved, I'm sure there will be many times when Dawn and I will be alone together. It looks like we've got a lot of time to work on trust issues because the virus keeps getting worse in Texas. It doesn't look like either Janet or I is going anywhere soon.

It certainly doesn't look like I'll be going to Florida for the Mars 2020 launch. That state has turned into a disaster. Even Texas looks good compared to Florida. I don't think people in these Southern states are behaving much worse than people in other states. The virus is just slowly working its way from state to state. Nothing can stop it. Even the smallest rural areas will be hit sooner or later.

I wonder why it is such a human thing to want to gather together? Even when I am walking in the park, I notice that people tend to like to walk together in groups. I listen to birds. Everyone else chats. When I used to go out for breakfast on Friday mornings, I was always the only person eating alone. Walking alone is lovely. I even prefer going to a movie theater alone. This is why the solution to this virus problem seems so obvious to me.  If you catch the virus from other people, just stay away from them.

Why would you feel compelled to flock to a beach, hang out in a bar, or hit the streets marching or protesting right now? The virus doesn't care what you like to do. I think I'll postpone getting a haircut for a while longer. I've still got to get groceries tomorrow, but that feels pretty safe. I've been getting groceries for months now. Nobody talks or mingles. We just quickly push our buggies through the store like masked ghosts, all looking for Clorox Wipes.

When the definitive book about 2020 is written, I think the title will be "Unintended Consequences." I'm just waiting to see what happens next.

Derrick is today's Dalmatian of the Day

Watch of the Day

Day 3836

It's hard to keep your eye on the ball. I've been around a long time and I don't think I've ever seen so many things going wrong at once. It seems inconceivable that the country doesn't seem capable of taking the coronavirus seriously. South Korea was able to control their outbreak quickly because the entire population was comfortable with the idea of universal surveillance. In a matter of weeks cell phone data, credit card transactions, and surveillance camera information were coordinated in a massive effort to track the entire population. It worked. People with the disease were quickly identified and isolated. China, Taiwan, and other asian countries had similar results.

This doesn't seem to work in the United States. People complain about contact tracing because of privacy issues. Everybody is clamoring for a vaccine but half the population already says that they will refuse to take it because they are suspicious of vaccines in general. There is a huge uproar over masks, which was partially created when the government initially said they were worthless and then changed their mind and said they were essential. Businesses desperately want to open up again, but customers aren't coming back because they still don't feel safe. It's a huge mess.

Add riots and civil unrest to a plague and you've got a recipe for disaster. If there is anything that should cause us to finally get our act together and come up with a unified plan to solve these problems it should be this. It's not happening though. We are not acting like South Korea at all. Every aspect of American life has become politicized, including virus mitigation, mask wearing, tearing down statues, and destroying vibrant American cities. Sadly, there are a lot of people in both political parties who think that this chaos will help them win the next election. Instead of getting together to fix things, they are strategizing on the most effective ways to blame the whole mess on the other side. At this point I think the winner will be ruling a pile of rubble.

I look at this whole situation with a certain amount of sadness. We have become a tribal society and I'm not a member of any tribe. I look at everything as an outsider and it gives me a different perspective on things. Democrats are quick to criticize fundamentalist Christians without acknowledging that they have become a religion themselves. Republicans have a leader who is trying to get rid of the deep state when his own political party actually is the deep state. It's all insane. You can't really blame the Russians and the Chinese for trying to destroy us with provocative memes on Facebook. It's so easy. We've already proved that we are willing to believe almost anything. I hate to throw my vote away in November but it's hard to get excited when both political parties have selected a senile, brain dead old man as their leader.

Oh, well. Life goes on. I've always been a survivor and as things continue to deteriorate, I'm inclined to become even more of a prepper than I was before. I'll continue to take long walks and work on getting stronger. I'll become even better at fixing things myself and will continue to favor the companionship of dogs. As soon as I can find an interesting long-term project I'll stop talking about current events. It's pointless and I certainly don't have a solution. Hey, I got the water off the roof today and took the trash out to the curb. I think that's enough for one day.

Shiner is today's Dalmatian of the Day

Watch of the Day

Day 3835

Dawn got a bath today. Yes, that was the big event of the day. We took her to a neighborhood dog-wash place and probably erased weeks of car conditioning efforts. As far as Dawn is concerned, a bath is even a worse destination than the vet. None of our dogs have liked getting baths, but it was time. The dog-wash place was busier than we expected, but everybody was wearing masks. I thought the restaurant we went to on my birthday felt safer. I'm sure Dawn would have agreed. She would have loved to accompany us to the steak house.

Since Dawn was good about getting bathed, we took her to get an ice cream cone on the way home. All is well now. We have a clean dog and Dawn is starting to think that all car rides end with ice cream.

I forgot what day it was again. For a while this morning I thought it was Tuesday. I guess it's understandable that the days would blend together. The pandemic has made them virtually indistinguishable. It's a shame that infection rates are going up in Texas. I was hoping that things were returning to normal. I'm hearing now that some stores and restaurants are thinking of closing again. I might have missed my chance to get a haircut. We'll see what happens in the next week or so, but things aren't looking good.

Things aren't looking good in Florida either. I really doubt that I'm going to get media accreditation to attend the Mars 2020 launch now. Especially since states are starting to impose travel bans on other hot-spot states. Even if I did get approved, I'm not sure if it would be wise to go. Air travel still seems questionable. Now that we are all getting used to the idea of distancing, I wonder if people will ever feel safe on a plane again. Do you remember how crowded a full plane actually is? Yikes. I haven't been that close to other people since this whole mess started.

Our early morning walks are still enjoyable, but it is definitely getting warmer. At least the rain is gone for a while. I don't know if we could get started any earlier. I'm half asleep when we leave the house as it is. The only way to get more sleep would be to get to bed earlier. I've tried, but it seems to take longer and longer to finish the blog every evening. It's hard to write when you've got nothing to say.

I got a call from the dermatologist's office today saying that my biopsy results were negative. What biopsy? I didn't even know they did one when they removed the keratosis from my face. I guess this is good news. The blemishes were not melanoma or even a pre-cancerous lesion. It's a little late now, but I didn't need to have these things removed in the first place. Better safe than sorry though. You don't want to mess around with anything that might turn into cancer.

It looks like I'm going to have to go up on the roof tomorrow. There's still water up there from our recent rain. The hotter is gets, the worse it is up on the roof. Being a roofer has got to be one of the worst jobs in the world. Oh, well. I've got to keep the roof free of water. It's the only way I'm going to keep the leak from returning.

Hopefully, I'll remember that tomorrow is Thursday. I can't forget trash day since we seem to generate a lot of trash. I hope nothing terrible happened today. I didn't even turn on the TV.

Rio is today's Dalmatian of the Day

Watch of the Day

Day 3834

Another rainy morning. This is getting old. Especially when I keep hearing from my astronomer friends that skies are clear out at McDonald Observatory. We managed to find time to give Dawn a shortened walk this morning. After getting caught in the rain a few too many times, I think we've finally learned not to tempt fate. Dawn was fine with the shorter walk. Not me. I had to go out later in the day to make up the lost steps.

When I went out again I passed a woman feeding the ducks with her children not more than twenty yards away from a crazy man wandering around shouting "My favorite is missing," over and over again. Occasionally he'd add "They're not all missing, but my favorite is gone." Was this guy talking about a loved one, a teddy bear, or maybe a sock? The woman feeding the ducks didn't seem alarmed. There were lots of runners on the trail and everyone ignored the crazy man. This strange tableau seemed to represent America today. We all want to keep feeding the ducks while the world is burning around us. It's pretty weird.

I wonder if the other NASCAR drivers are a little embarrassed after that noose in Bubba Wallace's garage turned out to be a garage door pull. The exact same rope was found in every other driver's garage and they had all been there since 2019. There was no hate crime. There was nothing at all. The media jumped all over this story before any investigation had been made. They did the same thing when Jussie Smollett said he had been assaulted in Chicago. Do you think the media is pushing a narrative? They love this stuff.

I don't love any of this. I don't know many members of the police force, but the few cops I do know are wonderful people. I'm pretty sure that the percentage of bad cops is about the same as the percentage of bad people in the general population. I used to live in Capitol Hill in Seattle. It was a great place back in the 1970's. If I was living there now, I would be outraged by a mayor that does nothing to stop the madness. I don't support tearing down monuments at all. If you think you can improve the future by erasing the past, you are wrong. It just doesn't work that way.

You can't defeat the virus by ignoring it either. I used to think that the Chinese were lying about their relatively low death rates during this pandemic. Now I'm more inclined to believe they were telling the truth. The Chinese had the liberty to impose draconian containment strategies. Jeez. These guys welded the doors shut to people's homes to keep them from moving about. We're so used to having our freedom that we just ignore anything that we don't like. It's not really a surprise that the United States has one of the highest death rates from the virus in the world.

I've thought for a long time that the Chinese would be the first to set foot on Mars. These guys play the long game and seem to have a thousand year plan for everything. We have trouble making a plan for next week. I wish we could get our act together as a country. There is so much potential here. We need more people like Elon Musk and Steve Jobs and fewer people pulling down statues. You may not agree with me, but we'll see who's right soon enough. Chaos is not a winning strategy. Sooner or later the Chinese will just declare "game over."

Boo is today's Dalmatian of the Day

Watch of the Day

Day 3833

And now there are two. Murphy found his forever home this week and has left the building. The only dogs left at the moment are Hank and Charlie. These two happy clowns have adjusted very well to kennel life. The staff loves them and it often feels like we are visiting them at home. Hopefully, each of these boys will find a real home soon. They certainly deserve it. Until that day comes, we'll continue to visit. Janet and I like to think we are helping to socialize the dogs, but I think Hank and Charlie know we are just having fun.

We woke to more rain this morning. It was raining pretty hard, so we changed our plans a bit. Janet went to the gym and I went ahead and made my morning smoothie. Two hours later, the rain had moved to the East and the skies began to clear. The good thing about these early morning storms is that they bring cooler weather with them. By the time we got Dawn in her harness and ready to walk, it was quite pleasant outside.

Monday's are all about the dogs now. By the time we've finished taking Dawn on a long walk and visiting Hank and Charlie at the kennel, the day is pretty much done. That's OK. I'm convinced that spending time with dogs is a lot better way to spend your day than worrying about which businesses in Dallas are virus free zones or watching the country self-destruct in television.

It still seems weird to me that Texas is reopening in a big way at exactly the same time as new virus infections are at an all time high. Maybe this was inevitable. The whole problem with lockdowns in the first place was that they were never designed to eliminate the virus. At best, all they could do was postpone the problem by kicking the can down the road a bit. Now that everyone has gotten tired of being quarantined and seeing their jobs and future go down the tubes, we are starting to notice that the virus is still here. Oops. It never left. I'm continuing to keep myself out of circulation, but I think we'll all become infected at some point. I just hope my immune system kicks in when the time comes.

It's actually pretty easy to avoid people when you are retired. I have no meetings to attend and no desire to engage in long conversations with anyone. Online shopping and banking actually works pretty well. I think I'm actually more worried about social unrest than the virus. Exposure to the virus can be controlled. I'm not so sure about an angry mob.

When I see people toppling statues indiscriminately and attempting to set up their own tiny countries inside the boundaries of large cities, I don't see anything resembling social change. This chaos reminds me of March 2001 when the Taliban destroyed the world's largest standing Budda statues in Afghanistan. The world thought that was terrible. Where is the outrage now? If you think all this violence and destruction is still about George Floyd you are being naive. This is more like Chairman Mao's Cultural Revolution. Like the Cultural Revolution, it is a blatant attempt by anarchists  to completely erase history. The sad thing is that when you erase history, you are much more likely to repeat it.

I'll probably have a pretty good day tomorrow if I can just avoid turning on the TV. It's getting ugly out there.

Kirby is today's Dalmatian of the Day

Watch of the Day

Day 3832 - Father's Day

Mom used to say that I was her Father's Day gift to Dad, since my birthday was so close to Father's Day. I think Dad would have preferred a Bass boat or even a new fishing rod. We weren't close for many years. It took a long while for each of us to realize how similar we were. I don't think children are destined to become like their parents, but it does help to understand where you came from. Although Dad and I followed very different paths in life, I grew to respect him. He was a good man. I hope Dad didn't feel like I let him down in the end. When I had to get a Power of Attorney and take over his affairs I know he was disappointed. I never was able to get him out of critical care. Getting old and sick is a bitch. I still think Dad's fate might become mine as well. That's why I try so hard to stay healthy.

Today was another rainy day. By carefully watching our weather radar apps, Janet and I were able to give Dawn her morning walk, but we were housebound for much of the day. I'm glad I didn't try to remove the standing water from the roof yesterday. It would have been a wasted effort. I'm pleased that after two heavy rains, there are still no roof leaks. I think I did a good job of patching things earlier in the year. There is still work to do, but nothing is critical now. I think it is safe to turn my attention to other things that are falling apart.

Since McDonald Observatory is still closed, some of the resident astronomers have started live streaming their evenings at the observatory's telescopes. I've subscribed to one of these podcasts and it makes me really miss my time on the mountain. I have a small telescope but there are too many lights in our neighborhood and I don't feel safe taking the telescope into the park at night. The splendid isolation of Mount Locke is the exact opposite of life in the city. You have to be cautious about mountain lions, javelinas and bears, but there are few worries about other people. When you live in a city you quickly realize that people are the most dangerous animals of all.

I tested a lot of old cameras and electronic gear this afternoon. Everything still seemed to work, but there were a lot of batteries that needed to be replaced or recharged. I used to be a lot better at keeping my gear operational and ready to go. It's hard to be all that diligent when you realize that you will never use a lot of this stuff again. Much of my equipment is obsolete. It got a lot of use in the 1990's when my business was flourishing but times have changed and I tend to hold on to things too long. It was easier to get rid of my art and collections because I knew that the stuff had resale value. Old studio gear is different. I'm either going to have to toss this stuff or add it to the growing pile in the storage warehouse.

My gym is open again, but I didn't go today. I'll probably eventually return, but for now my long walks seem like all the exercise I need. There are so many new rules at the gym that it hardly seems worth the trouble. One of my favorite things was shooting baskets and I think they've closed the basketball court. They don't want anyone touching the basketballs. I guess I could bring my own, but it is a collector's item given to me by Dick Vitale. I'll wait.

I hope I can find something useful to do next week. I still need to get a haircut and I'm hoping to hear from NASA about the Mars 2020 launch. I have my doubts that I'll be able to attend this launch, but one can always hope. Eventually, something has to return to normal.

Barley is today's Dalmatian of the Day

Watch of the Day

Day 3831

We had a lot of rain and high winds last night. I didn't sleep well because I was nervous about trees falling in the back yard and roof leaks. Luckily, the storm passed without doing any damage. I probably just got lucky. I noticed that there were a lot of downed trees in the park this morning. I also noticed that it was a lot colder. The storm did bring one good thing. Cooler weather.

Dawn loved her walk this morning. It was brisk and cool with a nice breeze. I spotted a new type of heron that I'd never seen before and we saw the green parrots again. On the way home we saw what looked like a fine mist rising from a grove of trees silhouetted in the rising sun. Very strange. I wish I had my camera with me. There seemed to be an enormous amount of frogs. You could hear them everywhere. Everything felt fresh and new. It felt like nature had pushed the reset button.

Somebody needs to press the reset button for grocery shopping. Many items are still in short supply. I had a long grocery list today, but I still couldn't find Clorox Wipes. Maybe that brief sighting last week was just an illusion. I couldn't find blueberries either, but I did find peaches. Peaches are back in season and you can find nice looking ones everywhere. It seems like that's all I think about these days. What am I going to eat for breakfast and dinner?

The Mars rover is almost ready to fly and I still haven't heard anything from NASA or the Air Force. I miss my little community of space friends. When we would gather for launch events it was always an interesting mix of people. There were active military folks and college professors. Some people came from small towns and others from big cities. Lots of space fans were young, but there were plenty of old people like me as well. Often we would get together for dinner or drinks while we were waiting for the main event. You'd think that in today's environment there would be lots of arguments in such an eclectic and diverse group. Nope. Everybody got along. There was an unwritten rule that we never talked about politics. I've been to many launches and this always seems to be the case. It works. Improbable and lasting friendships can be made when you don't talk about politics or religion.

I wonder how many people realize that things are going to get worse no matter who wins the election.   Today's problems have simply become too complex to fix. Nobody even wants to listen when you try to explain how complex and interconnected the world has become. If you try to fix one thing, you inevitably wreck something else. I've never been a big fan of politicians. Their job is to supply solutions, so they tend to oversimplify and make promises that are never kept. The globalists think they are clever enough to manage all this complexity. The isolationists just want to pretend it doesn't exist. There is a conspiracy theory going around now that Bill Gates and his Davos buddies engineered the entire pandemic and subsequent social unrest in an effort to significantly reduce the world's population, stop climate change, and install a world government. Lots of luck with that. It's far more likely that humans will simply become extinct in three hundred years. Bill Gates is right that there are too many of us, but I don't think you can stop this train.

Taking the long view on things gives you a curious perspective on current events. Pulling down statues means nothing. Look up at the stars. Our country's two hundred year history, or even humanity's 300 thousand year history isn't even measurable on a cosmic scale. We are temporary. I sometimes wonder what ants think. We are just ants in the grand scheme of things.

Alamo is today's Dalmatian of the Day

Watch of the Day

Day 3830 - My Birthday

Another trip around the sun. I guess I'm doing pretty well for 72. My Dad already had Parkinson's and Macular Degeneration at this age and my Mom didn't even make it this far. Janet and I do our best to stay healthy, but when you are over seventy, every extra year is a gift. I figure that I've got a good ten years left before I start to fall apart, but you never know. Not all of us are destined to be Betty White.

We went out for a birthday dinner at our favorite restaurant this evening. With all the controversy about whether Texas has reopened too soon, I didn't know what to expect. We were both pleasantly surprised and felt completely safe. The tables were spaced far apart, the staff all wore masks, and everyone was super nice. Our waiter even recognized me and said that it was nice to see us again. I always enjoy dining at Knife and was glad we didn't decide to stay home.

The restaurant wasn't crowded. Everyone was responsible. You could tell that the entire staff was trying hard to make this work. Too bad everyone doesn't seem to be able to reopen this way. It's crazy out there. Some stores are still completely closed. Others have you order online and then they bring your merchandise out to your car. A few stores are just pretending like none of this ever happened. I find this inconsistency confusing. Clearly we can't keep the entire country quarantined forever, but it is equally obvious that the virus isn't going away. Texas is having a big spike in new cases at the same time the state is trying to reopen.

Everyone was really pretty good about staying quarantined for several months, but it feels like everyone has had enough. "We did our part," you can almost hear people saying. Now they expect the virus to go away. I'm going to continue to stay away from people. I've never liked crowds anyway. I think that as long as you avoid public transportation, bars, sporting events, concerts, weddings, church services, and other situations where people are crowded together you are probably OK. I might even go ahead and get a haircut. When Janet went to the salon last week, she said that everyone was so careful and that they only let a few customers in at a time.

When we came home from the restaurant the skies were clear and now we are under a severe weather warning. Texas weather is always full of surprises. I hope we don't lose power. The wind is blowing pretty hard outside. It is always a pain when we lose power right in the middle of a blog post. I've got to get all the emergency power devices working and then start over again using the laptop.  Hopefully that won't happen. I don't have that much more to say anyway.

Thanks for all the birthday greetings. Checking to see who sent you a birthday message on Facebook has become a ritual part of almost everyone's birthday these days. Did Facebook always send out birthday notices? I can't even remember when this started. Nobody sends birthday cards anymore except my sister who refuses to use the Internet. I wonder if people have started having birthday parties again? During the lockdown, people in our neighborhood would put up birthday signs in their front yards and drivers would honk when they drove by.

It is a little weird to be 72. Most of my NASA and astronomy friends are half my age. I don't feel old at all. Hopefully I'll feel as healthy when I turn 73 as I do now. I'm not doing anything special, but I can tell you for a fact that lots of exercise and a healthy diet work wonders.

Inky is today's Dalmatian of the Day

Watch of the Day

Day 3829

Living in the shadow of the coronavirus for most of 2020 doesn't really fill you with confidence about anything. Why don't we know anything definitive about this thing? At first it was nothing to worry about. Then it was something that only affected the old and sick. Now practically every story I read is about how the virus struck down a young, healthy marathon runner who works out and never gets sick. There is no consistency anywhere. Masks are worthless. Masks are vital. Nobody knows how to wear a mask properly. Pick a topic and you will find a conflicting opinion.

Retail stores are opening up, but you can't try on clothes. What is the point of this? Restaurants are opening again only to close a few days later when the chef or a waiter turns up sick. At least five newly opened restaurants in Dallas have already had to close again. Airlines and hotels send me tempting offers almost every day, but where would you go these days? If a destination isn't a virus hotspot it it probably the site of rioting and looting. I wonder how long this can go on without everyone going insane?

It would be nice if you could trust what you read and hear. The media aren't doing us any favors. As far as I can tell, the scientists don't have any answers yet. The politicians keep trying to spin whatever the scientists say and use it to their own advantage. You certainly can't believe what your friends and neighbors say. Most of them get all their information from Facebook memes.

This whole situation certainly hasn't turned out the way I expected. I never thought that the United States would end up with the highest death rate. I guess I thought that there was be lots of devastation but that it would all be very far away in countries I couldn't pronounce properly. I certainly thought we would know more about how the virus works by now. We know nothing. Nobody seems to be developing herd immunity and everybody keeps arguing about mitigation strategies. Now that civil unrest has taken center stage, we don't even hear from Dr. Fauci anymore. It's easy to imagine Dr. Evil sitting in his favorite chair petting Mr. Bigglesworth while orchestrating this entire mess.

I feel like all my plans have been put on hold. Even if I do manage to get press clearance for the upcoming Mars 2020 launch, I'm not sure it would be wise to go to Florida. Florida is a mess right now. Texas isn't looking so good either. Janet and I keep thinking of taking a car trip, but neither of us can think of a place to go. We aren't fans of camping and who would want to go to a city right now. I don't think I would ever go on a cruise again. I"m looking forward to the day when McDonald Observatory opens up but I doubt that it will be happening soon. The place is so remote that the staff can't afford for anyone to get sick. The last thing they probably want right now is visitors from big cities.

I guess this leaves me with walking. I continue to walk. The weather was nice today. We're all getting used to getting up early to avoid the heat and Dawn really enjoys these morning outings. My afternoon walk is not as fun, but I do it anyway. Even when nothing happens, I can end the day with 20,000 steps.

Rugby is today's Dalmatian of the Day

Watch of the Day

Day 3828

The doctor wasn't pleased with my progress this morning. "I froze the hell out of those things last time and the roots are still there," he told me. It was a little unsettling to learn that keratosis blemishes had roots. I've watched enough science fiction movies to know that having something growing inside you with roots is not a good thing. "We're going to have to scrape these," the doctor told his nurse. I had visions of sandpaper and asked the doctor if it would hurt. "You won't feel a thing," he told me.

The doctor was correct. The anesthetic they injected in my face was pretty effective. I closed my eyes because I didn't want to see what the doctor was actually doing. After a while I began to smell something burning. "Is that me," I asked? I couldn't feel anything, but there was a definite smell of burning flesh. "This is how we remove these growths now," the doctor told me. "It is very effective. "Will this bleed a lot," I asked the doctor? "I doubt if it will bleed at all," He told me. "There is already a scab." The nurse placed a small bandage under my eye and the doctor said he'd see me again in four months. I was good to go in less than fifteen minutes.

This wasn't what I expected at all. The entire procedure was much less traumatic than a trip to the dentist. I'm glad I don't have to go back for another four months. A trip to the doctor in today's post-pandemic world is still a little unsettling. There are rules about how many people can ride in the elevator and lots of social distancing circles on the floors. So many people are wearing masks that you just know that some of them have got to be sick. I definitely wouldn't want to work in a hospital environment right now. You can tell these guys know that they are at ground zero. I always have to fill out a questionnaire saying that I haven't traveled anywhere in the last fourteen days and haven't come into contact with anyone who has been exposed to the virus. How would they even know if I was telling the truth?

The rest of my day was uneventful. We're still walking extremely early, but you can tell that the temperature keeps rising. Summer is here. There was a breeze this morning, but Dawn seemed a little tired. We'll probably try a shorter route tomorrow morning. Dawn loves these walks in the woods and enjoys smelling things, but we don't want to push her too hard. She's getting older and isn't as obsessed with exercise as Janet and I seem to be.

If I were writing a dystopian novel, it would be hard to top what is happening right now in real life. People around the world are tired of being quarantined and are becoming restless. The virus is still here though and keeps reappearing like a forest fire that can't be extinguished. Social unrest is growing everywhere and there is already a shortage of Xanax. Everyone is upset about something. Truckers say they are going to stop delivering to cities with protests. People want to go back to the beach. Supply chains are crumbling as workers fall sick in critical industries. Police and emergency workers are under attack at the same time there are massive riots and arson in many cities. Kim Jong-un is blowing up buildings along the South Korean border and a weird little country just appeared right in the middle of Seattle. Basically, it's a total shit show everywhere you look.

This isn't going to end well. We need to get a grip on things in a hurry. It's easy to break something. It's a lot harder to put it back together.

Riley is today's Dalmatian of the Day

Watch of the Day

Day 3827

I always used to think I was an early adopter. My first computer was an Osborne 1. I was online way before browsers and the World Wide Web even existed. I had a home office long before it became a fad. What a surprise to discover that I'm actually pretty old school. In my own way, I'm probably just as bad as my Dad who steadfastly refused to use a computer at all. I'm still having a hard time adapting to online banking. I've made the switch, but it still seems easier to write a paper check and take it to the post office. I rarely made mistakes when writing checks, but I always have to check for typos now. It's easy to void a paper check, but a lot harder to undo an online mistake after you've hit send. At any rate, I did manage to get the bills paid today.

I'm becoming increasingly skeptical about modern life. What does all this technology really prove? I don't answer my phone anymore because I know I will be talking to a telemarketer. I seldom even make a call because it is so irritating to connect with an automated call center. I carefully delete cookies and the browser cache every evening before I shut off my computer. Almost nothing is trustworthy or reliable anymore. Maybe that's why I like those old Perry Mason shows. When somebody wanted to talk to Perry, they just called him up and he always picked up the phone. Nobody would ever send Perry a text message in the courtroom. I miss the days when I had a list of dependable suppliers and vendors and I could call each of them directly whenever I had a problem. All bets are off these days. Do you really trust Angie's List or Yelp. I don't.

Even writing the blog was easier when it was just a daily journal entry written by hand in a little leather bound book. Maybe I should go back to those simple journals. I was never writing for an audience. The blog and the yearly journals that preceded it were always just a way for me to keep track of my life when my memory begins to fail. My memory is still pretty sharp, but it is interesting to go back occasionally and see what I was doing five years ago. If I ever get Alzheimer's, having a detailed record like this might help.

I always wanted to keep this narrative going for 5000 consecutive days. Maybe 4000 is enough. I'm having second thoughts about all this. The world has changed a lot since I started the blog over ten years ago. People seem more argumentative now. I remember flame wars on those old Usenet News Groups but it never seemed personal. There is an angry vibe online these days and I've never been interested in arguing. I'm not even interested in having a dialog. Whenever I see one of those "If you blah, blah, blah, just unfriend me now" messages I feel like unfriending the person even if I happen agree with them. All the raw emotion and endless memes are becoming tedious. I think I was more comfortable with the Internet back when it was just a few nerdy electrical engineering majors struggling to send simple messages over a 300 baud modem.

Tomorrow I go back to the dermatologist. I've already gotten half a dozen text messages reminding me to wear a mask. I imagine that they'll do something, since my face hasn't completely cleared up. Will the doctor cut me or give me another liquid nitrogen treatment? Will I even have time to walk Dawn and finish my breakfast smoothie before my appointment? When you are used to doing nothing, even having one thing to do can seem complex.

Hershey is today's Dalmatian of the Day

Watch of the Day

Day 3826

Another day with the rescue Dalmatians. Monday's are all about the dogs now. We spend the morning walking Dawn and the afternoon playing with the three remaining boys in the rescue program. Hank, Murphy, and Charlie are all doing well. They never seem to tire of chasing red rubber Kongs and begging for treats. All three of these dogs have an enormous amount of energy. I hope they get adopted by someone who enjoys staying equally active.

I wish I had an enormous amount of energy. I'm just not feeling it these days. By the time we've finished our early morning walk, I'm tempted to just go back to bed. I never do, of course. I'm still disciplined enough to make the bed, fix my breakfast, and contemplate how to navigate my way through another day. I used to have a ton of ongoing projects that kept me occupied, but it's getting harder and harder to find anything that captures my interest.

The office is filled with the wreckage of abandoned obsessions. I still have the huge printer I used to make Giclée prints for gallery shows. There are still a few model trains on shelves that somehow never made it to my dealer in Kentucky who is selling my collection. I have a ton of watch repair tools and timekeeping paraphernalia, but no desire to even keep my remaining watches running. I wonder how I ever became so interested in watches? It's a mystery.

I'm still interested in following rocket launches and hanging out at major observatories. Jeez. Couldn't I have picked something less complicated like gardening or collecting stamps? Getting access to launch sites requires multiple levels of approval and the observatories I like to visit are very far away. I'm still waiting to hear whether I'll be able to attend the upcoming Mars 2020 Perseverance rover launch in late July. I keep checking my e-mail to see if my request for media accreditation has been approved. I also check the news to see if the virus keeps getting worse in Florida. Who knows. By the end of July, I might not even feel safe going to Florida. Flying on a half empty plane seems fine, but I'm not sure about how I'll feel when the flights are full again.

I found a book in the office today that has been missing for years. When I became interested in astronomy again, I knew I had a book somewhere that explained a new and easy way to learn the names and locations of the constellations. I got the book back in high school but I haven't seen it in ages. I even thought for a while that this might have been a library book. All I knew that the book was large and the cover was blue. Imagine my surprise when I found the volume today. I was actually looking for something else, but there it was. It is actually a very interesting book. I wonder how many other forgotten treasures are lost in the labyrinth of this messy office?

The world is still a train wreck, but I'm tired of talking about it. A little house in the country with clear, dark skies and no neighbors for miles and miles sounds pretty good to me now. Of course if there really was a way to escape the chaos of urban life, I'd probably immediately get bit by a snake or fall off a cliff or something. I like to think I'm self sufficient, but few of us really are.

Shadow is today's Dalmatian of the Day

Watch of the Day

Day 3825

I'm beginning to feel like Forest Gump. I find myself spending more and more of my time walking. I've gone from three miles a day, to five miles, and now eight miles. Occasionally, I'll walk ten miles a day. Walking is a great way to kill time. You can let your mind wander without the distraction of cable TV reminding you that the world is coming unglued or your computer reminding you that you have definitely become a non-essential worker. I don't try to solve problems when I walk. I don't brood or get angry. I just observe things. I wonder about cloud formations and the color of the sky. I notice the changes in vegetation that take place over time. I listen to bird sounds and try to identify them. I try not to think about people at all.

Some people plan elaborate hiking vacations. I seem content to walk the same neighborhood trails over and over again. For some reason I have no desire to walk to the bottom of the Grand Canyon or hike the Appalachian Trail. I don't think I'm looking for adventure at all. Walking is just a peaceful, solitary way to kill time.

One of the nice things about dogs is that they generally like to walk even more than I do. Janet likes walking as well. I wonder how far I've traveled over the years? I didn't even start counting until I got a Fitbit several years ago. Fitbit says I've already earned my "Africa" badge by walking the 5000 mile length of the continent. Add thirty years of walking Dalmatians to that total and I imagine that I've covered a lot of territory.

There is nothing wrong with doing repetitive things. There's always something new if you keep your eyes open. We saw the Monk Parakeets on our walk this morning. These bright green South American parrots have been spotted around our lake for many years but nobody knows how they got here. They are not migrating birds and they are definitely not native to the area. I think there are several dozen birds in the local colony. I've seen them several times now.

Now that the Spring rains are over, I'm already starting to see the water level in the lake start to drop. The lake is actually quite shallow. If we have a dry Summer, a few parts of the lake will dry up completely. The native prairie areas are still green, but these will dry and turn yellow as the Summer progresses. All these things are interesting and I don't have to travel anywhere to see the changes.

I guess writing the blog is another repetitive thing that I've been doing for years. I didn't think that I'd have anything to write about today, since I certainly didn't do much. There's always something to write about though. You can look outward, or you can look inward. I prefer to look inward. I wish more people would try this. There is a lot to be said for keeping quiet and minding your own business.

Daisy is today's Dalmatian of the Day

Watch of the Day