Saturday, February 27, 2021

Day 4083

I woke up early this morning, which meant I got even less sleep than usual. It was damp and foggy outside and I was convinced that it would start raining any minute. As soon as we finished breakfast we took Dawn on her short walk and then I went and got my grocery shopping done. There wasn't much on my list this week and I was home before I typically even start my Saturday errands.

It still looked like the rain would start any minute, so I thought I'd see how far I could get on my long walk. I knew I'd probably get wet, but it didn't really matter. I needed those steps and I wasn't going to get them staring at this computer. I did get a little wet, but the rain mostly bypassed us today. This happens surprisingly often. People living to the North and South of us seem to get a lot more rain than we do.

The afternoon was uneventful. I practiced processing some pictures of the Andromeda galaxy that I'd taken last October out at McDonald Observatory. The pictures weren't that good and I've been looking forward to returning to the observatory to improve on my technique. Sadly, that's not going to happen this Spring. A lot has changed in a year, and I doubt that they'll be needing volunteers for quite a while.

One year ago today, I was visiting a small private observatory north of Dallas to prepare myself to a two week stay out at the observatory. I didn't know it at the time, but this was the beginning of a year long adventure that resulted in a growing interest in astrophotography and a cover story in Sky & Telescope. I'm having trouble planning future adventures now. Covid has taken the wind out of my sails. Maybe after Janet and I complete our second vaccinations next week, I'll feel confident enough to start making plans again.

There are certainly some things worth exploring. I'd like to go down to Boca Chica and do a story on Starship and all the Space X activities there. I have to figure out how to get myself invited though. That might take a while. I definitely want to be down at Kennedy Space Center for the Artemis 1 launch. The launch is still supposed to happen this year, but I have a feeling it will be postponed. I've heard rumors that there will be a follow up to the astrophotography workshop I took last October. That sounds interesting as well. I need to remember that there are always things to do, but nothing is going to happen if I just sit here.

I went out and picked up a pizza for dinner tonight and almost immediately got a bad case of heartburn. It's a shame that many of my favorite foods give me heartburn. I love spaghetti, chili, ribs, fried chicken, and pizza. They all give me heartburn. It's kind of a shame that most of my favorite activities all involve trips to places thousands of miles away as well. Wouldn't it be easier if I enjoyed bland foods and doing things right here in Dallas? Maybe that's not the point though. At least I have interests.

I hope the weather is better tomorrow. A gloomy day usually results in a gloomy me. The forecast says it will be raining in the morning, but it might be clear. Texas weather is full of surprises.

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