Day 4355

It's beginning to feel a lot like Winter. The temperature was 36 degrees when I woke up this morning. I'm glad I brought the lawnmower battery inside yesterday. Freezing temperatures destroys these batteries. Dawn enjoyed the chilly temperatures on her sunrise walk, but I wasn't happy with the thought that this type of weather will probably be with us until next March. I had to wear long underwear and a sweater under my jacket on today's walk. It's a lot easier to get dressed when I can just throw on a t-shirt and a pair of shorts.

It was a little warmer when I took my long walk after breakfast, but it was still pretty chilly. The park seemed empty this morning. Only the serious joggers and cyclists were out today. The colder the weather, the fewer people I see. Very few people are as consistent as I am. I know these people by sight now. We usually wave or say "Hi" as we pass each other. There is one cyclist I call the Hello Man who shouts out hello to every single person he passes. You can hear him coming from a long way away.

The big event of the day was that I was able to take Dawn on a walk by myself today. It definitely wasn't a long walk, but this was real progress. As recently as several months ago, Dawn would have been terrified to leave the yard without Janet at her side. Dawn is fine with me walking her as long as Janet is nearby. When I'm alone with her it's a totally different story. It's been a long, slow process to get Dawn to trust me.  We're definitely not there yet, but today's little walk was definitely progress. It probably helped that she had to pee. As soon as Dawn finished her business she immediately wanted to return to the house again.

I had a 20,000 step day today. That's pretty good, considering how cold it was. We've added a late afternoon walk with Dawn to our daily routine. Dawn seems to like the activity and she can certainly use the exercise. With three walks a day now, I don't have time for a lot else. That's fine by me. I usually manage to complete one little fix-it chore around the house during the day and that's about it. Today's task was clearing the leaves off the front and back porch and doing a load of laundry.

Today was Black Friday and I didn't buy a thing. I don't even think Black Friday is a big deal anymore. You don't hear about long lines waiting to get in Walmart or Best Buy these days. I got a lot of e-mail about Black Friday bargains, but the prices all seemed pretty normal to me. Since everything seems to be constantly on sale these days, having a special day just for sales is essentially meaningless.

I forgot what day it was again today. Having a holiday on Thursday is confusing. Almost all the major holidays have been moved to Friday or Monday so people can take a three day weekend. Christmas and New Years move around but they actually are on the weekend this year. Easter is always on a Sunday. I guess there is some justification for being confused by Thursday holidays. The only other explanation is that I've become a forgetful old man.

It's time to make a grocery list again. I wonder how much prices have gone up this week? Inflation is definitely real and I don't think it is going away soon. I read an article the other day that said that when governments gave away money like they did during Covid, inflation is the economy's way of reclaiming it. Makes sense to me. There is no free lunch in this world. Eventually you pay for everything.

Pepper is today's Dalmatian of the Day

Watch of the Day