Day 3872

We tried an experiment this morning. I attempted to walk Dawn by myself. She started out confidently enough, but quickly became apprehensive and nervous. Where was Janet? I walked confidently and was very encouraging but Dawn kept looking back toward the house. After we had gone about a quarter of a mile, she stopped completely and wouldn't go any further. "Do you want to go home," I said. Immediately, she turned and started walking confidently toward the house.

We knew Dawn still wanted a walk, so Janet put on some shoes and off we went again. Everything was fine now. Dawn just wanted to make sure that Janet was with us. We'll have to keep working on this. Actually, I was encouraged that Dawn made it down to the edge of the lake with me. We've never made it this far before. Dawn has always seemed frightened when Janet isn't nearby. When Janet first began fostering Dawn, I was in Florida attending a launch. Maybe that had something to do with her uncertainty toward me. I was the stranger who just appeared about five days later. It's weird. Dawn is super friendly with me when Janet is around. It's only when she and I are alone that she gets nervous. I keep thinking that she was treated badly by the puppy mill breeders who kept her before she entered the rescue program. We'll never know everything about Dawn's former life, but she clearly prefers women.

I was back up on the roof this morning. The rain we got last night didn't last long, but it was heavy. There was a lot of water on the roof. At least it was a little cooler today. The rain brought a cold front with it. A cold front in July doesn't mean much, but it was definitely a little cooler than yesterday. I'm starting to see a little deterioration in the silicon coating. At some point I'm going to have to start making repairs again if I want to keep the roof from leaking this winter.

I made another appointment to get a haircut toward the end of next week. We'll see how this goes. I'm still not completely comfortable being out and about, but you can't put everything on hold forever. I have a feeling that this virus is going to be with us for a long, long time. I'm careful, but you've still got to get groceries and eventually you're going to need a haircut.

I'm still getting 20,000 steps a day, but that's about it. I'd like to think I'm in between avocations, but who knows. I certainly don't want to become a collector again. That was a giant waste of time and money. I don't want to be a fine art photographer either. Been there, done that. After spending years getting to the point where I could have my own gallery shows, I discovered that being around other artists irritated me. The art world turned out to be just as phony as the advertising world. These days I prefer the company of scientists. I'm sure this is an illusion as well, but the people I've met in the space and astronomy communities have seemed really interesting. Unlike ad folks, they all appear to be doing something of substance.

Hard to believe it's going to be August tomorrow. Where has this year gone? It's time to make a grocery list again. I wonder if I'm ever going to find Clorox Wipes? I have a feeling that when Clorox Wipes are readily available again, the pandemic is officially over.

Shelby is today's Dalmatian of the Day

Watch of the Day