Day 4182

Dawn is a smart dog. She knows we sleep in late on Sunday and stays in bed with us at least an hour longer than her usual breakfast time. I don't know if she is being patient or lazy. Maybe she would sleep in late every day if Janet didn't get up early on weekdays. Dawn also seems to know that she gets a special outing on Sundays. As the time for our departure approaches she starts pacing around, whining and barking. I think we've overcome her fear of the car. Dawn is eager to hop in the car on Sunday morning. Maybe she never was fearful of the car; just fearful of where the car might be going. Dawn still doesn't like to get in the car if we are going to the vet or to get a bath. I think she knows.

We had a nice walk this morning. We had a lot of rain last night, but it was over by morning. The ground was still wet but the grass is thick everywhere now and it is easy to avoid getting muddy. Dawn seems to listen to me outside when I am holding her leash. She never listens to me inside the house. This is a very strange dog. I think I am slowly beginning to understand her. After our regular walk, Janet worked on a few training exercises. Dawn wasn't very interested. I think she knew it was time for ice cream cones. We always get ice cream at Andy's on the way home They call their ice cream frozen custard, but it tastes like Dairy Queen to me. I"m not particular about ice cream. I like all ice cream.

I wasn't that eager to go on my long walk today because I knew it would get hot quickly as soon as the sun came out. I decided to walk earlier than usual in hopes that the skies would stay cloudy. I almost got my wish. It stayed overcast with a little breeze until I was almost home. I was slow today but I wasn't in a hurry. I'm trying to not be such a slave to my Fitbit. I really ought to stop wearing the Fitbit on walks and start carrying a small camera again. I used to take better pictures in the park. Now I mostly just depend on my phone. Sometimes I'll just use an old picture for the blog. I've photographed everything there is to photograph in the park by now. If I see something interesting on my walks, I can almost always find an old photograph of exactly the same thing.

I'm beginning to hate taking a shower after I walk. The shower drains slowly if any hair gets in the drain and water alway seems to get under the tile floor through various small cracks in the tile grout. I usually end up having to snake out the drain and use the wet/dry vac to extract the water that has gotten under the ceramic tiles. This is a huge pain and it almost make staying hot and sweaty a viable option. Old houses are an endless problem and so is finding knowledgable and dependable repair people. You learn to live with the problems. I've already learned that a small bag of party ice will last almost three weeks in the freezer. I could buy party ice forever for a lot less than the cost of having an appliance repairman install a new ice maker.

I thought about watching some more tutorials about PixInsight this afternoon but my heart wasn't in it. I have to admit that I'm just not very interested in the technical aspects of astrophotography processing. I can get fairly decent looking photographs just using Photoshop. Maybe I'll just stick with what I know. I read an article today where various amateur astronomers were recounting stories about being stalked by mountain lions, bears, and coyotes while observing in remote wooded locations. These stories were a little sobering and took some of the fun out of staying at the Astronomer's Lodge. I can't be fearful of everything though or I'd never leave the house.

We'll probably go see the rescue Dalmatians tomorrow. I'm curious to see who's still there. Charlie is a safe bet, but the others might all be adopted by now.

Wendy is today's Dalmatian of the Day

Watch of the Day