Day 3998

We debated about waiting until later to walk this morning. It was really cold. We decided it was better to wear warmer clothes than to change our plans. This meant that Dawn would have to wear two coats today. Janet and I wore two coats as well. Dot and Dash often wore two coats on cold days, but this was a first for Dawn. A black sweater goes on first. Then the red Ruffwear harness goes on top. Finally an insulated outer coat goes on top of the harness. Since Dawn is about the same size at Dot, everything fit well and she could still move freely. It took Dawn a little while to get used to the new gear, but it definitely kept her warmer. Northerners would think this was overkill, but like I've said many times, we're not Northerners.

It was a clear, sunny day and although the temperature was near freezing while we walked, it warmed up quickly as the day progressed. I think we had a high of around fifty-five degrees. I always turn the furnace up and change back to shorts and a t-shirt when we return home. There is a lot of glass in the house and we used to have problems with condensation in the Winter. The dehumidifier has taken care of that. As long as the dehumidifier and the furnace are running, Winter is banished from the house.

Today was uneventful. I made a quick trip to the bank after breakfast and spent the rest of the day puttering around on the computer. I'm still trying to improve my skills at processing the astrophotography pictures I took out at McDonald Observatory last October. There are lots of techniques you can use to improve the quality of the images while still keeping them looking natural. I know how to stack images now, but I still need to take dark, flat, and bias calibration frames to reduce noise and artifacts even further.   When you add these calibration frames to your stack and run the processing software, the images noticeably improve. I should have taken the calibration frames out at the observatory because your camera needs to be at the same temperature as when you are taking star images. Darks are taken with the lens cap on. Flats are taken with the camera pointed at an evenly lit white background or a blank patch of sky. Bias frames also have the lens cap on and are taken at the fastest shutter speed your camera has. Mix all this together with the right software and you reduce a lot of the noise that digital cameras can create. Since all this is technical and tedious, I just played around with Photoshop today.

I'm sure that the next time I go out to West Texas, my photos will be a lot better. I have no idea when that is going to happen though. Covid has gotten really bad in Marfa, Alpine and Fort Davis and the observatory has shut down again as a precaution. They say the primary reason for the surge in cases is the huge increase in traffic to the Big Bend area. When people couldn't fly or take cruise ships, they began to take road trips. Campgrounds and National Parks are full all over the country and a lot of rural areas have been overrun by city people. It's ironic and kind of sad that my friends at the observatory thought they were safe because they were so remote. The remoteness and beauty of places like Big Bend attracted all the city folks with cabin fever though and now the Davis Mountains have become one of the worst Covid hotspots in the country.

It's time to make a grocery list again. I also need to make sure that all my camera batteries are fully charged and that I have spare batteries and bulbs for my strobe equipment. The Santa Paws event is Sunday. We looked at the backdrop today and it appears that we already washed it last year after we were finished with our events. It least that's one thing I won't need to do. It looks like it is going to be very cold again tomorrow morning. We know what to do.

Camp is today's Dalmatian of the Day

Watch of the Day