Day 796

We spent most of the day at the Krewe of Barkus Mardi Gras parade in McKinney, Texas. McKinney is one of those beautiful small towns with a town square that has a courthouse in the middle. Most of the shops in the historic town square have been converted into chic restaurants and antique stores, but visiting this town still brings back memories of the town I grew up in. This is what America used to look like. It's kind of sad that towns like McKinney survive by turning themselves into architectural theme parks, but what are you going to do? The industries that used to keep towns like these thriving all across America left long ago. I have a feeling that places like McKinney will become thriving retirement communities. When you think about growing old in a quaint little town like this or a crime ridden city like Dallas, the choice is pretty clear.

Dalmatian Rescue has been coming to this Mardi Gras parade for three or four years now. I don't think the dogs understand the tradition of pre-Lent reveling, but they do seem to enjoy being outdoors and getting to see lots of other dogs. Dot seems to enjoy being in charge of the Dalmatian Rescue booth. As soon as we get the tent set up and are ready for business, there she is, standing tall at our table and greeting visitors. People seem to love seeing Dot take charge this way. She's a bossy girl, but she can be quite charming.

Dash was a hit during the parade. As the procession wound its way around the town square, Dash barked continually at everything he saw. He was wearing a Texas Rangers baseball costume and the crowd would yell "Go Rangers" as we passed. He seemed to enjoy the attention, especially when an endless stream of little kids came up to pet him at our booth. Both dogs were tired at the end of the afternoon and slept on the way home. We didn't hear a peep out of Dash during the entire long ride back to Dallas. Our strange boy is finally starting to mature.

Tomorrow is President's Day. This holiday has become so vague that I can't even remember which president's we are honoring anymore. Janet gets the day off, but I still have to work. I was hoping to get a little writing done today, but the day went by too quickly. Hey, I can write any day of the week. It was nice to get out in the sun today and enjoy a little taste of an early Spring. Tomorrow, I may need to forgo the pleasant weather. I'm behind on everything.

Spot is today's Dalmatian of the Day

Watch of the Day

Day 444

I put together my ad for Dallas Dog Life and sent it off to the publication this afternoon. It's a simple little ad, but then I'm a simple little company these days. It's hard to believe I started my business doing TV commercials for Pepsi and Mountain Dew. I like what I do now, but I'll have to admit that I'm painting with a lot smaller brush. At least I'm still in business. A lot of folks aren't.

I got a call this morning from a woman who wanted me to come take a picture of her puppy. When I asked how she'd heard of me, she said she'd seen one of my pictures on the wall while she was at her vet and liked it. This is exactly what I wanted to happen when I loaned the leftover photos from a couple of old gallery shows to veterinary hospitals and restaurants all over town several years ago. It's been so long since anyone called about the pictures however, that I've almost forgotten that they are still out there. Some seeds take a long time to root though and I've finally learned to be patient.

I guess patience finally paid off with Google Adsense too. I noticed that I made it to the $100 payout threshold today. I'm certainly not going to get rich from online advertising though. Since it took me a full year to earn my first $100, I'd better not buy that vacation home quite yet. Even with these paltry earnings, the fantasy of passive income is still alluring. Like many of you, I still have hopes that a collection of blogs and websites might eventually pay the bills some day.

It's going to be a busy weekend. Dalmatian Rescue has a booth at the annual Krewe of Barkus parade and festival this Sunday. No photography involved this time, but Dot and Dash are going to be in the parade.

Dalmatian of the Day

Watch of the Day