Day 4104 - Vernal Equinox

It definitely felt like the first day of Spring. The weather was beautiful and that meant the park was incredibly crowded. It seemed weird to see so many people out and about when the commentators on television are still talking about social distancing and Covid spikes. People aren't listening anymore. I think they've had enough. It also seems weird that only a little more than twelve percent of the population has been vaccinated when every single person I know has had at least one shot. Even younger people seem to be getting vaccinated now. Apparently it is still hard to get an appointment in some parts of the country, but the whole process is relatively easy in Dallas. I'm still glad I live in Texas.

My grocery list was longer than usual this week, but I managed to find everything. When I was getting blueberries, the ink was smudged on all the bar code labels and I had to learn to enter the information by hand in my handy shopping app. I kept getting the SKU wrong because there is one number way to the left of all the other numbers. The produce guy finally showed me how to enter the information correctly. I bought some LED bulbs for a burned out lamp in the bedroom, forgetting that we already had plenty of spare bulbs at home. I also bought some more Parmigiano-Reggiano cheese, forgetting that I'd already gotten some two weeks ago. I'm not really a very good shopper.

We slept in late this morning, but I'm still not getting enough sleep. I need to get to bed earlier. It's taking me longer and longer to write the blog each night, even though I have less and less to say. Sometimes I seriously wonder if I'm going to be able to complete my 5000 day goal. I keep plodding along one day at a time, but a little voice in my head keeps telling me that this strange journey doesn't even matter anymore. I'm certainly not writing for an audience. I think only about ten of you are regular readers.

Dawn seems to like being outside more than our other dogs. We leave the back door open for her on these nice Spring days, but that's not going to last long. It won't be long until the air conditioner starts running continually and all the windows and doors will be sealed shut again. It's a shame that Spring doesn't last longer in Texas. It's easy to forget how nice it can be when the temperature is reasonable.

I keep bookmarking articles and videos about astrophotography. I'm learning a lot, but still feel like a beginner. It's amazing to me how many people around the world have chosen this complicated activity as their hobby. There must be thousands and thousands of them. I took a telescope out occasionally over the years to look at the planets and the moon, but never really got serious about astronomy until I started spending time out at McDonald Observatory. It's fascinating to look at the sky at night and realize how truly insignificant we really are. It's a shame that so much of the night sky is invisible to Dallas residents. Maybe all the light pollution is for the best though. I don't feel safe going out at night in this city anyway. Somebody seems to get shot every night.

My feet weren't my friend today. By the time I finished my long walk, every bone in my body seemed to ache. I'm not very fast. On a good day it takes me about 19 minutes to walk a mile. On a bad day it can take me up to 24 minutes. People pass me all the time. I don't really care. Most of these people are in their 30's and 40's. Let's see how fast they move when they're 72.

Baxter is today's Dalmatian of the Day

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