Day 4570

No early start today. Dawn and I slept in again. I was glad to be back on a regular schedule, but my long walk was warmer this morning. My daily routine is more complicated now, but I try to do everything in the proper order. The first thing I do when I get up is fill Dawn's water bowls. Then I unlock the back door and gate and fix Dawn's breakfast. If she won't come out to the kitchen to eat, I take her bowl back to the bedroom and then fix my own breakfast. 

After I finish eating and wash the dishes, we go down to the meadow behind out house so she can poop and pee. I remember to take poop bags with me now. When Janet is home, this is when we typically take our sunrise walk, but Dawn wants to come straight back to the house now. When we return Dawn gets her morning meds. We don't use pill pockets because Dawn likes to take her pills with cream cheese. I've finally learned how to make the bed with Dawn sitting on top because she is very reluctant to leave her favorite place.

This morning I thought the hot water heater was broken because I hadn't heard is come on in a while. It felt cooler to the touch as well. It turned out that nothing was wrong. I just haven't been using a lot of hot water lately. I haven't run the dishwasher or done any laundry since Janet left on vacation. I use so few dishes that I just wash them by hand. There isn't nearly enough dirty laundry to run the washing machine yet. I haven't even been taking out the trash every evening this week. Every two or three days is plenty. I maintain a pretty low profile on my own and still don't know if this is a good thing or pathetic.

Since I didn't get started on my long walk until a little after 9 AM today, the sun was already high in the sky. There was a little breeze when I was near the shoreline, but it wasn't enough to cool me off. I don't know how the guys working on the new bike trail can stand the heat. They are out in the sun all day. I didn't see many ducks this morning, but the Monk Parakeets and Purple Martins were active. Both of these birds are very loud. Nobody really knows where the Monk Parakeets came from. They aren't migratory and typically are found in South America. Some think a family pet got loose, but that doesn't explain why around a 100 of the colorful green birds live at the lake now.

Dawn usually eats lunch with Janet, but I don't have a lunch routine. I typically don't eat lunch at all. I've tried to duplicate Janet's routine, but Dawn won't come out to the kitchen with me. She loves sliced turkey and cheese though. So I always take a little bit of turkey and cheese back to the bed for her. She loves carrots too so I always save a few carrot slices from my pot roast for her. Dawn definitely doesn't live on table scraps. Her real meals consist of a special prescription diet designed to prevent bladder stones from forming. A little Potassium Citrate powder is added to her evening meal and a Probiotic supplement is added to her morning meal. Janet has researched Dawn's diet carefully with our vet. I just follow directions and make sure she is eating the right amount of everything at the right time. I'm a forgetful person, so Janet always puts Dawn's meds in labeled little plastic baggies before she goes on vacation. Each day there is a bag for morning meds and another bag for evening meds. I appreciate this. After taking her meds, I mark them as being taken on a calendar in the kitchen.

It was a slow afternoon, so I watched another movie called I Think We're Alone Now. This atypical end of the world film featured a guy who actually liked the idea of being the last person on earth until he discovered that he wasn't alone after all. Considering that the film premiered at the Sundance Film Festival and was directed by the same women who also directed the first three episodes of The Handmaidens Tale, it didn't get good reviews. Another film I never heard of until I found it on Amazon Prime. I don't want to make a habit of watching a movie on my computer every afternoon. I need to find something constructive to do tomorrow.

Sparky is today's Dalmatian of the Day

Watch of the Day

Day 3825

I'm beginning to feel like Forest Gump. I find myself spending more and more of my time walking. I've gone from three miles a day, to five miles, and now eight miles. Occasionally, I'll walk ten miles a day. Walking is a great way to kill time. You can let your mind wander without the distraction of cable TV reminding you that the world is coming unglued or your computer reminding you that you have definitely become a non-essential worker. I don't try to solve problems when I walk. I don't brood or get angry. I just observe things. I wonder about cloud formations and the color of the sky. I notice the changes in vegetation that take place over time. I listen to bird sounds and try to identify them. I try not to think about people at all.

Some people plan elaborate hiking vacations. I seem content to walk the same neighborhood trails over and over again. For some reason I have no desire to walk to the bottom of the Grand Canyon or hike the Appalachian Trail. I don't think I'm looking for adventure at all. Walking is just a peaceful, solitary way to kill time.

One of the nice things about dogs is that they generally like to walk even more than I do. Janet likes walking as well. I wonder how far I've traveled over the years? I didn't even start counting until I got a Fitbit several years ago. Fitbit says I've already earned my "Africa" badge by walking the 5000 mile length of the continent. Add thirty years of walking Dalmatians to that total and I imagine that I've covered a lot of territory.

There is nothing wrong with doing repetitive things. There's always something new if you keep your eyes open. We saw the Monk Parakeets on our walk this morning. These bright green South American parrots have been spotted around our lake for many years but nobody knows how they got here. They are not migrating birds and they are definitely not native to the area. I think there are several dozen birds in the local colony. I've seen them several times now.

Now that the Spring rains are over, I'm already starting to see the water level in the lake start to drop. The lake is actually quite shallow. If we have a dry Summer, a few parts of the lake will dry up completely. The native prairie areas are still green, but these will dry and turn yellow as the Summer progresses. All these things are interesting and I don't have to travel anywhere to see the changes.

I guess writing the blog is another repetitive thing that I've been doing for years. I didn't think that I'd have anything to write about today, since I certainly didn't do much. There's always something to write about though. You can look outward, or you can look inward. I prefer to look inward. I wish more people would try this. There is a lot to be said for keeping quiet and minding your own business.

Daisy is today's Dalmatian of the Day

Watch of the Day

Day 2651

It's hard to believe that it's still snowing in some parts of the country. The temperatures reached the high 80's here in Dallas. Unfortunately, this is already too warm for Dot. I'm dreading this Summer. Dot never liked hot weather even when she was young and healthy. Now, high temperatures are punishing. Even though there was a nice breeze, Dot had trouble on her afternoon walk. She seemed exhausted. We had to stop and rest several times, even though all we did was walk to the end of the block and back. We probably should have just stayed home, or waited until dusk when the temperature started to drop.

It looks like working on weekends is going to be a regular occurrence. I don't really mind. It just seems odd. Years ago when I was busy all the time, I never worked on weekends. Now, when virtually nothing happens at all, weekend gigs are common. It's not so much that my clients have changed. The entire workplace has changed.

The park was full today since the weather was so nice. There were hammocks everywhere. I still don't understand the popularity of hammocks. To me, enjoying the outdoors means taking a hike or paddling a kayak. Apparently, an entire generation thinks that enjoying the outdoors means lying in a hammock while looking at Snapchat on your phone. Older people still hike and bike, but the young ones are all lying in hammocks.

I'm surprised at how predictable Texas wildflowers are. Often if I look at a previous years blog post, I'll find a picture of exactly the same flowers I'm seeing now. Today, the Blue-eyed Grass emerged. The little blue flowers were everywhere. I don't know who named these things. They aren't in the grass family at all and the eye in the center is yellow instead of blue. Next week there will be a whole new batch of wildflowers to photograph. Things are starting to get colorful.

It was overcast this morning, but the sky cleared completely by sunset. This was a pretty good evening to look at the stars. Tonight there was a conjunction of Mercury and Venus that was visible right after sunset. After dinner, I took my binoculars to a nearby hill to look for the planets. I found them both, although if I'd waited another ten minutes they would have been lost in the haze near the horizon. Venus was a thin crescent and Mercury just looked like a bright star. I need to start looking for Saturn now.

It just occurred to me that I hadn't seen any White Pelicans this Winter. These large migratory birds are a common site at the lake and usually arrive in late Fall. I didn't see any this year. It's probably too late for them now. They usually continue their migration and move somewhere else in late Spring. I wonder where they went? I haven't seen the green Monk Parakeets this year either. It's probably a sign of the apocalypse.

It's time to go to the gym again. I should be developing some serious upper body strength, since I'm having to support more of Dot's weight as her legs become weaker. I used to just guide and steady her as she walked. Now, I need to lift the rear part of the harness a bit to keep her rear legs from crumbling under her. I need to take weight off her legs while still letting her feet touch the ground to provide tactile support and encourage her to move her legs. It takes a while to learn to do this so she can still walk naturally, but we're getting there. We'll do a lot better tomorrow if we get some sleep tonight.

Nick is today's Dalmatian of the Day

Watch of the Day

Day 1790

I wish I had a decent camera with me this morning. While I was walking the dogs, at least thirty bright green parrots flew directly over my head. These weren't small pet parakeets that escaped from a birdcage. They were large, full grown parrots that looked like they belonged in a Central American jungle. What were they doing in Texas? Especially when a major cold front is headed our way. I vaguely recall seeing a few birds like these last year, but never in large numbers like this. Being the kind of guy I am, I did a search for the birds on Google and discovered that they're called Monk Parakeets by some, and Quaker Parrots by others. A large colony of these birds, which are common in South America, have been living in our city at least since 2009. The parrot colony makes their home in an electrical substation just a few miles from my house. Now I'm wondering why I haven't seen them before.

The parrots weren't the only animals enjoying this unseasonably warm Fall morning. Dot and Dash had a great time on their morning walk, pausing to smell every tree and bush along the way. We saw plenty of ducks, squirrels, rabbits, and of course lots of other dogs and their owners taking advantage of the mild Indian Summer day.

The stars must have been aligned today. Nothing irritated me at all. I listened to an interesting Ted Talk on the radio on the way to the gym. I had a good solid workout with only minimal shoulder pain, and when I went to get groceries on the way home, the store wasn't even crowded. Janet and I found a nice place to have Thanksgiving dinner and made our reservations. I even put a fresh hypoallergenic filter in the furnace, so the air in the house should be a little cleaner for at least a couple of weeks. I was originally supposed to shoot a video for a client today, but the job got postponed. These days, I'm never disappointed when work gets postponed. Lazy days with surprise parrots are much better.

I'll make a few phone calls tomorrow and see what it's going to take to get the new WiFi thermostat installed. I'm actually kind of intrigued to have a thermostat I can talk to. I never talk to Siri on my phone, because asking a phone to do things for me still seems a bit ridiculous for someone with my lifestyle. A talking thermostat I could use though. I'm always concerned about the temperature.

Maybe I'll make myself a nice omelet tomorrow morning. Janet tells me I think about food too much, but it certainly beats thinking about Photoshop, Dreamweaver, or where my next job is coming from.

Dot is today's Dalmatian of the Day

Watch of the Day