Day 4542

Today was busy. Well, it was busy for me anyway. After breakfast and a sunrise walk with Dawn I mowed the grass in the front yard. I did this early before it warmed up too much. Last month I thought I couldn't handle mowing the grass anymore, but I still seem to be doing OK. I guess I'll keep on going. The batteries in the electric mower aren't holding a charge as well as they used to, but still seem to be sufficient to mow one half of the lawn at a time. After I finished my outdoor chores, I wrote a letter to my sister and dropped it off at the post office on my way to the bank.

Mowing the lawn convinced me that it was too hot and humid to take a walk in the park. After a quick lunch I went back to the gym where it is nice and cool. I did a different set of exercises than I did yesterday in hopes that it would minimize the inevitable aches and pains. It's probably a good idea to vary my routine anyway. After all the years I've been going to this gym there are still quite a few machines I have never even tried. I'm able to elevate my heart rate a lot easier at the gym, but I actually burn more calories on my long walks. Go figure. I actually have no idea whether any of this activity is doing me any good. I assume it is, but how do you measure such things? I hope I've added a few months or even years to my lifespan, but we'll have to see how that works out.

Janet had somewhere to go this afternoon, so Dawn was her usual nervous nellie self when I returned from the gym. I'm used to this, but I wasn't expecting what happened next. Just before dinner time our power went out and Dawn completely freaked out. Such a strange dog. Thunder and lightning don't bother her at all, but power outages drive her crazy. I think it's the suddenness of it all. When there is an outage everything shuts off and the house is immediately quiet except for the irritating beeping noise from several uninterrupted power supplies. I know these bother her, so I shut them off as soon as I can.

Dawn's reaction was much worse than usual today because Janet wasn't home. I knew something was wrong when she raced to the back door and scratched to get out. She usually never wants to go outside when the ground is wet. It had been raining recently and that probably had something to do with the power outage. When she got outside, she wouldn't come in again. Something had convinced her that the house was now a dangerous place. 

The power outage didn't really last very long, but having the lights and air conditioner back on again didn't convince Dawn that the danger was over. I had a hard time getting her back inside and she didn't want to go back to the bedroom again. I left her alone for a while and the next time I went out to the kitchen, I discovered that she was sitting in a chair next to the back door. She wanted to go outside again. I thought she would come to her senses, but this time it was almost impossible to get her to return to the house. I eventually has to go get a leash and lead her back in. I fixed her a nice dinner, but she refused to eat and hid in a corner until Janet returned. 

All is well now, but Dawn's reaction today was troubling to me. She showed all the signs of a dog in a panic who would run away if given the chance. It rained a lot this afternoon but at least the pumps on the roof worked today. I was congratulating myself for getting the grass mowed and all my errands done before the rain started. I never was expecting to be blindsided by a power outage and a crazy dog.

Charlie is today's Dalmatian of the Day

Watch of the Day