Day 4854 - Easter

For the past week or so I've been seeing a group of photographers with cameras pointed up at a tree when we walked Dawn in the morning. Today curiosity got the best of me and I went down to the tree to investigate. There was a nest with baby owls. There are lots of owls living in the park. I hear them almost every day. This was the second time I've seen baby owls near our house. These looked fairly young. I think it will be a while before they fly.

There are always a ton of people in the park on Easter Sunday. It is a popular place to have an Easter picnic. Today the weather was perfect. The temperature was in the low seventies with light clouds overhead. No matter how long you were outside there was no chance of getting sunburned. Hispanic families had huge extended family gatherings, complete with tents, tables, folding chairs, and games for the kids. Black families came to barbecue. Many brought elaborate smokers and portable barbecue pits with them on trailers. Whatever they were cooking smelled really good. I saw one family boiling crawfish in a huge aluminum pot. I'm just guessing, but I suspect they were from Louisiana. Everyone looked like they were having a good time. I didn't see any egg hunts this year. Probably the cost of eggs has gotten too high.

I did a lot of walking today and got over 21,000 steps. Surprisingly, my feet held up better than expected. After I took my long walk through the throng of park picnickers, Janet and I took Dawn on her Sunday outing. She had lots of energy and enjoyed her Sunday walk. There were lots of people having picnics in this park as well. Probably every park in town was full of picnickers today. 

Luckily, the ice cream store was open today, so we all got ice cream cones on the way home. Dawn loves going to the ice cream store. She doesn't ride well in the car, but having ice cream always calms her down.  Having ice cream cones on Sunday has become a nice little tradition for us. When the weather is bad, you can tell that Dawn really misses her outing.

Our own Easter dinner was delicious. We had spiral cut ham, green bean casserole, loaded baked potatoes, and baked apples, along with pecan pie for dessert. Thanksgiving and Easter are the only times we overeat. Hey, you've got to pig out every once in a while. There will be lots of leftovers too. I love a good ham sandwich.

It was a good day. Finding the baby owls on Easter seemed like a symbol of rebirth and new life. Even though I'm not as religious as Janet, Easter has always been one of my favorite holidays. It always seems to be a happy and optimistic day. Tomorrow life returns to normal. I'll have my shredded wheat and fruit for breakfast, take my walk, and fret about why I haven't received any notification from NASA about launch credentials. I'm really glad Dawn seems healthy again. We were very worried about her.

Livy is today's Dalmatian of the Day

Watch of the Day

Day 4853

Another grocery shopping Saturday is in the books. The stores were really busy today. Everyone must have been picking up food for their Easter dinner. Not me. I was just following my usual list, picking up unappetizing items like Swiffer Sweepers and paper towels. Janet had a Honeybaked Ham gift card, so we'll be having a spiral cut ham for our Easter meal, along with enough side dishes to use up the card. I wonder how ham because a traditional Easter dish while Turkey is featured on Thanksgiving? I've always heard the term "Christmas Goose," but I've never eaten a goose in my life. I don't think I'd want to since I've grown fond of the geese I see everyday at the park.

It was overcast for most of the day, but quite warm. Dawn got a nice early walk and then we had our big weekend breakfast. After I finished shopping and filled the car with gas I took my long walk in the park. I was unusually slow today but I don't know why. I wasn't tired and it didn't feel like I was walking slow. Sometimes I think my Fitbit lies.

Most of the early Spring wildflowers are blooming now. The flowers appeared later than they did last year,  but they're all here. I'm even seeing a few Monarch butterflies. I see lots of people planting things in their yards and the landscaping crews are busy. I think Winter is officially over. Let's hope our mild Spring weather sticks around for a while. Pretty soon it's going to be hot again and my long walks are going to be miserable.

It's a good thing I didn't go mall walking today. The entire mall was evacuated due to some unspecified threat at the Nordstrom store. The threat turned out to be unsubstantiated, but it was just another reminder that we live in a large city. I actually think this happened once before at Northpark. The mall is back open again, so I'll be mall walking tomorrow morning. It's just a shame that these type of things happen so often. In the world we live in, a mall evacuation doesn't even seem that strange.

I wish I'd hear something about the April launches I've applied to attend. Some of these take place soon and I still haven't heard anything. Oh, well. I guess I just have to learn to be patient. I always seem to receive notification with just enough time to make last minute reservations. I'll probably never get a good deal on airfare or hotels, but I've always managed to find a place to stay. If I don't get approved for anything, I'm going to wish I'd planned a trip out to McDonald Observatory instead. It's definitely time for some kind of trip.

Dawn will get her Sunday outing tomorrow, but I'm not sure if the ice cream store is open on Easter. If the store is closed, we'll give her a little ice cream at home. I won't be mall walking tomorrow because Easter is one of the few times during the year that the mall is closed. I hope everyone has a happy Easter and gives some thought to the significance of the day.

Cooper is today's Dalmatian of the Day

Watch of the Day

Day 4498

There was one less dog when we visited the kennel this afternoon. Julip has gone to her new home. Things are looking up for the Dalmatians. Potential adoptors have been looking at Candy and Oliver as well. Not surprisingly, there is a huge amount of interest in Sammy's puppies, but it's nice to see the adult dogs getting some interest as well. Hopefully more of our rescues will find their forever homes soon. Every one of of these dogs would make a great addition to some lucky family.

It's nice to see the progress the puppy mill dogs are making. Each week we visit they appear more well adjusted and normal. Rocket is much less fearful than he was when he entered the rescue program. He's become friends with one of the kennel attendants and is starting to show a playful side. Rocket won't play with Janet and I yet, but he will take cookies from us. He's definitely making progress and his skin is getting better too.  Candy is definitely calmer than she was last week. I think the person who has been thinking about adopting her has really helped. Basically, all these guys are decompressing, learning to trust, and starting to realize that life is much better than they ever thought it could be.

It was my turn to drive to the kennel this week and I tried to imagine seven hours of this on my upcoming drive to West Texas. Freeways are horrible now. The traffic is relentless and most of it consists of eighteen wheelers going as fast as they can. It is unnerving to be on a multi-lane freeway and have one of these huge trucks on either side of you. All things considered though, driving in town is still probably worse than the open road. On a busy day, even the supermarket parking lots are worse than the open road.

The weather was weird today. When we took Dawn on her early walk it was cold enough for winter coats again. The furnace was running when I woke up this morning. It warmed up quickly though. I only needed a light jacket when we visited the rescue dogs at the kennel and by the time I took my long walk later in the afternoon, I had to change to shorts and a t-shirt. Just another normal Texas day, I guess.

I got a tracking number on the camera part I ordered from China. It's coming by FedEx again. I hope I have better luck than I did with my last shipment from China. The star tracker was lost for so long that I thought I was never going to receive it. This time I am definitely not going to change the delivery location in route. In retrospect, that blunder played a big role in why the package was lost for so long.

My long walk was pretty short today. I think I overdid it yesterday. My feet bothered me quite a bit this afternoon and I saw no reason to punish myself. I only got 16,000 steps today and probably should have stopped when I passed the 10,000 mark. It's hard to stop on a nice day though. Although it was cold this morning, this afternoon was almost perfect.

Our Easter dinner tastes just as good as leftovers. Since there are only two of us, there are lots of leftovers. I"ll probably be eating Easter dinner all week. It's a good thing I like ham. I guess it's a good thing I like shredded wheat and berries as well. I might be eating this for breakfast forever. For some reason I just can't bring myself to go out for breakfast anymore. I can't bring myself to cook either. I used to cook elaborate breakfasts and even got one of my recipes in a cookbook once. Not anymore. Shredded wheat is just fine.

There's not much on the agenda for tomorrow. Sleeping in sounds good to me, but Dawn probably has other ideas.

Mattie is today's Dalmatian of the Day

Watch of the Day

Day 4497 - Easter

We had a very pleasant Easter. It was so peaceful and quiet when we took Dawn on her early walk this morning. There was no traffic noise, no planes overhead, and no police or fire sirens. There were very few people in the park and it felt like I remembered it years ago. Of course that would change dramatically later in the day, but for a brief moment in time all was good.

We had a hearty weekend breakfast after we walked Dawn and afterwards since the weather was cool and traffic was light on our street, I thought I'd try to mow the lawn. It's still a loathsome job, but I did it. It actually didn't seem any harder than it did the previous year, so that was encouraging. I'm glad I mowed when I did. The grass was starting to get thick. On most days I hate mowing where our yard meets the street. The traffic has gotten much, much worse during the thirty odd years we've lived here. People don't even slow down when they pass me mowing along the edge of the yard. They barrel by at 40 to 50 miles an hour. I miss the days when our street was relatively quiet.

After I finished mowing and rested a bit, it was time for Dawn's Sunday outing. The weather was still cool and cloudy, so we had a nice walk. The parks weren't quite so empty this time. Families were starting to arrive for Easter picnics and barbecues. A few children were having an egg hunt. We encountered some people on horseback during our walk. Dawn doesn't react to horses the way some of our other dogs have. She pretty much ignores them. After walking about a mile and a half, we went looking for ice cream. I really expected the ice cream place to be closed for Easter, but we were pleasantly surprised to discover that the place was open. They raised their prices again. The cones weren't any bigger though. So it goes. Absolutely everything is getting more expensive these days.

I don't know why I still felt like taking a long walk later in the afternoon. Probably because I couldn't think of anything better to do. This time the park was a zoo. The place was completely filled with families having large picnics. Many groups brought tables and chairs with them. Some set up tents as well. I was surprised at how many families brought their own barbecue grills since there are already lots of permanent grills in the park. There were lots of games for children. One group even set up an elaborate zip line between two trees for their kids to ride. It looked like everyone was having fun. I'm not a fan of crowds in the park, but it was hard to find fault with any of this. In today's increasingly weird world, it was nice to see families acting like regular normal families.

When I finished my third walk of the day I'll have to admit that I was tired. Hey, I got 22,000 steps though and I mowed the yard. Not bad for an old guy with bad feet. I doubt that I'll walk nearly as far tomorrow. The highlight of our day was Easter dinner. A smoked ham has become a tradition on Easter Sunday. You've got to have candied yams and a green bean casserole too. We finished our meal with a delicious carrot cake. I ate too much, but that's what holiday meals are for. It looks like we'll have plenty of leftovers for the rest of the week.

Tomorrow it's time to visit the rescue Dalmatians again. I hope potential adopters are looking at these dogs. They're all great and it's time for each of them to find their forever homes.

Bella is today's Dalmatian of the Day

Watch of the Day

Day 4496

I got to sleep a little longer this morning. Even though we are both retired, we still maintain a vestage of our old work schedules. This means sleeping in on weekends and having breakfast together. I think Dawn would like to get started earlier on Saturday morning, but she usually doesn't move until she knows at least one of us is awake. We had a nice walk before breakfast although it was rather warm. No jackets required.

Traffic seems unusually heavy this Easter weekend. The grocery stores were certainly busy. It seemed like everybody was planning a big Easter meal. I easily found everything on my list, but had a hard time finding a parking place at some stores. The Central Market parking lot is always full, but there always seems to be one space open for me when I arrive. It's always the exact same space. I find this strange, but I'm starting to believe that this is my space. One of these days it will be taken when I arrive and I'll be mad.

Janet has a big dinner planned for tomorrow with a smoked ham, scalloped potatoes, green bean casserole and more. To have something different tonight I picked up some Maryland Crab Cakes. We both love crab cakes. I always seems to be thinking about food and sleep. I guess I have my priorities.

It felt more like Summer than Spring on my long walk today. At least it was a cloudy day and there was a little breeze. I was comfortable in shorts and my feet still aren't hurting too bad. Someone stopped me today and asked where the eagles were. Beats me. I've heard rumors that they are still in the area but I haven't seen them in over a month. I must have been walking really slow on my way home because one of my neighbors slowed their car and asked me if I needed a ride. Nope. I'm fine. This is what I do. I walk slow.

I got out the star tracker this afternoon and installed the latest software. I still have a hard time getting this thing to work correctly. The camera sometimes goes dead in the middle of a session and I have to restart everything. I still don't know if the connecting cables are bad or if my camera is not completely compatible with the tracker. At any rate, I doubt that I'll take it to the observatory with me. It's just too much trouble.

I should have mowed the grass this afternoon instead of monkeying around with the tracker. Maybe I'll mow tomorrow. If I wait too much longer, the grass will be too high. The only good thing about mowing is that it still counts as steps. If I mow, I don't have to walk as far. I still think it would be better to get someone to do this for me, but I hate dealing with strangers. I'll probably just keep mowing.

We'll still take Dawn on her Sunday outing tomorrow, although I doubt that the ice cream place will be open. I always have to watch the dogs carefully around Easter when we go to the parks. There are a lot of Easter egg hunts on Easter morning and kids don't seem to look for real eggs anymore. People hide plastic eggs filled with candy. The park is usually littered with candy on Monday morning. Dogs should never eat chocolate, but that doesn't keep them from trying. Dawn has a good sense of smell too. If there's loose food, she'll find it.

I hope everyone has a happy Easter. I haven't forgotten the true meaning of the day. I just don't talk about it.

Becker is today's Dalmatian of the Day

Watch of the Day

Day 4119 - Easter

The picture is old, but I still like it. Dot was a great dog. She was a patient soul who let us dress her up in all manner of ridiculous costumes. I doubt that Dawn would wear bunny ears. They would just be one more thing to be scared of. We wanted Dawn to have a nice Easter, so we drove her to another park this morning where we knew she would have new things to explore. Dawn really enjoys these outings even though she's not fond of riding in the car.

We had a relaxed and very enjoyable Easter. Janet went to church yesterday to avoid the crowds and today was just a low-key day around the house. Dawn was in a good mood today and took two walks. We were impressed. After we took her to a new park in the car, she did her familiar one mile loop later in the day. The park was busy, but it wasn't nearly as crowded as in previous years. Covid has changed everything.

Janet joined me on my long walk today. A walk is always a good time to talk and catch up on things. I managed to keep up a pretty decent pace and my foot didn't give me any major problems. Although it was overcast today, the weather was mild and I didn't need a coat. We've lived in this area for a long time and it's weird how much the neighborhood has changed. Even the park has changed quite a bit. It was largely undeveloped when we moved here. I think I liked it better then. At some point the city passed a huge bond issue with the money designated to go toward improving the park. Over time the area became a popular destination for people all over North Texas. They come to birdwatch, to hike, to cycle, to kayak and sail, and to have picnics and barbecues. It's really a wonderful park now, but I still liked it better when it was wild and undiscovered.

By mid afternoon the house began to be filled with the smells of a delicious meal being cooked. While Janet was cooking, I tried to clean up the yard. There are still lots of leaves trapped under the dying ground cover in the back yard. We haven't tried to rake this area because it would pull up the remaining Asian Jasmine that managed to survive the big freeze. I thought I'd try to blow these leaves away with a leaf blower. I was partially successful. I removed a lot of leaves, but unfortunately the entire area doesn't look any better. It's going to take a long time for this part of the yard to recover.

After I gave up on yard work, I practiced processing some of last October's astrophotography images in Photoshop. I watch a lot of YouTube videos and bookmark tutorial sites. I continue to learn and the results are beginning to show it. I'm getting better at this odd and often difficult avocation. I walk to keep my body active and I write and keep learning to keep my brain active. I may be wrong, but I'm convinced that staying active like this is the best way to avoid dementia and maybe even Alzheimer's. I've seen way too many people my age begin to decline the minute they give up and quit learning.

Our Easter dinner was delicious. The small batch meat company that hand smokes the hams I get every Easter is amazing. This stuff is addictive and surprisingly easy to cook. Janet made candied yams with marshmallows on top and green beans with bacon and peppers. We topped everything off with a cherry pie for dessert and we are both pleasantly stuffed.

It looks like I'll have some tasty leftovers for the rest of the week. I hope Dawn continues walking. She did well today. She even came out of the bedroom and joined us at dinner for a while. Easter is supposed to be a hopeful time and today felt good. I'm not typically an optimistic person, but today I'm more than willing to give it a try.

Dottie is today's Dalmatian of the Day

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