Day 4111

I think a lot of people must have moved here during the pandemic. The traffic is horrible now. Every time I go out, I feel like I am driving in Los Angeles. Dallas was never a small town, but it wasn't always this way. I remember when there was a farm with livestock right across from Northpark. Maybe I'm just getting too old for city life. It's getting harder and harder to find anything positive to say about all this congestion. 

Shopping was relatively easy today. I found everything on my list fairly quickly and was home well before noon. I used to think that the pandemic would be over when I started seeing Clorox wipes again. The wipes are everywhere now, so why does it feel like nothing has changed? Even getting vaccinated didn't change much. I still wear a mask whenever I go out. I seldom eat at restaurants anymore. When I pass someone while I'm walking in the park, I make a conscious effort to move way out of the way. I might never go to a large gathering again. I could go on and on. I doubt that this behavior is going to change any time soon. I've never trusted people all that much. Now I have a reason not to trust them.

I do trust dogs, which is why it bothers me that Dawn doesn't seems to like me. Dot and Dash would follow me everywhere, but Dawn still hasn't set foot in the office. The whole room seems off limits to her. We are making a little progress though. When I take a nap on the bed, she no longer leaves the room. She seems content to share the bed with me now, but she won't follow me outside even when I know she wants to go. The only way I can get her to go in the back yard with me is to lead her out on a leash. Dawn is an entirely different dog when Janet is home. She is much more confident and very little seems to bother her. Oh, well. I guess it's just me.

My long walk was a little slow again today. I felt fine, but I could tell after the first 300 yards that I wasn't going to set any records. It's still a mystery why on some days I have a spring in my step and on other days I don't. I used to think my slow days resulted from a lack of sleep, but I've been sleeping well lately. I doubt that any of this even matters. I should just turn off the Fitbit and enjoy the view. On today's walk I noticed that one of the Muscovy ducks and three of the geese were missing. I saw two Monk Parakeets which was strange since these birds usually fly together as a large group. There were lots of people in the park, which was understandable since it was a nice Spring day. For the first time in over a year I saw some of the baseball diamonds in use. School sports have definitely returned. The soccer fields in the park have been in use for quite a while now.

I'm spending way too much time looking at telescopes and other astronomical paraphernalia online. This usually leads to buying things which is probably unwise. I'm never going to spend much time looking at the stars here in Dallas. The light pollution is terrible and I don't feel safe going out at night in the city anyway. This leaves the occasional trip to West Texas, which might actually be all I need. It's too bad I can't just rent the equipment I need the same way I rent a car for these trips. 

I may be forced to do some yard work tomorrow. The yard still looks terrible after our big freeze, and neither of us want to spend the money to hire a lawn service anymore. I guess we need to clean up the place for Dawn. She loves being out in the yard.

Chloe is today's Dalmatian of the Day

Watch of the Day