Day 4347

The weather has changed again. It was really cold this morning. Northerners wouldn't consider today's temperature cold, but it was pretty chilly to me. I just can't handle cold anymore. I'm wearing sweaters around the house when Janet is still in shirtsleaves. I'll turn the thermostat up and she'll turn it back down again. This is all kind of weird since I've spent plenty of time in cold climates. I went to high school in Alaska and lived in Idaho for a while right after college. I don't remember being cold then. Of course my memory may be fooling me. I don't remember a lot from 60 years ago.

Dawn seems to love the colder weather. She was full of energy on her sunrise walk and even took a second walk with Janet later in the day. I bundled up for my long walk and for the first time this season didn't feel like taking my jacket off after the first few miles. A brisk wind made it feel even colder, but I finished my six miles. My pace was better today. I must have been walking faster to stay warm.

I can't say that I did anything useful today. I did clear the leaves off the front and back porch, but that was a futile activity. It was a windy day and by the time I was finished, a new batch of leaves had already fallen from the trees. I have to sweep the front porch often. Prevailing winds push leaves against our front door and then when you open the door they blow inside. I think the fun part of Fall is almost over. Now comes months of leaf raking. The leaves used to just blow away, but now that all the neighbors have built those awful tall wood security fences, we don't get a breeze anymore and the leaves have no place to go.

There's an eclipse of the moon later tonight. It's supposed to be the longest eclipse in hundreds of years according to the media accounts I've read. Will I get up at 4 AM to look at the moon as it approaches totality? Maybe. There's a good chance I'll just sleep through the whole thing. I've already photographed a number of lunar eclipses and they are all pretty much the same. The only time I bother to go outside when astronomical events like eclipses and meteor showers are taking place in the wee hours of the morning is if I happen to wake up to go to the bathroom at the same time. I value my sleep. The last thing I want to do is get up in the middle of the night. Maybe I should write a book called The Lazy Astronomer. I love looking at the night sky between 9 and 11 PM. After that, it's bedtime.

It looks like there is a lot of construction going on in the park. The city is replacing some of my favorite trails with much larger concrete walkways. This isn't good news for me. The new walkways will be promoted as bike paths by the city and all the sudden there will be a new influx of bicycles from all over the place. Bicycles don't mix well with people walking dogs. Cyclists never slow down for anybody and dogs love to wander around and sniff things on both sides of the trail. For as long as I can remember I've had to be on the lookout for bicycles so the dogs and I don't end up getting run over. 

I filled out my application to attend the Artemis 1 roll out this morning. Will I get credentialed? Who knows. They haven't even set a date for the roll out yet, but it will probably take place toward the end of December. I kind of like Winter events in Florida because the mosquitos aren't so bad. If I don't get accepted for this one, it's not a big deal. I can still apply to attend the launch sometime in 2022. I'd enjoy seeing the roll out, but if I don't go, I'll save some money.

It was chilly when I took the trash to the curb this evening. The sky was clear and the moon was trying to tempt me. I still can't decide whether to get up for the eclipse. I will have to get up tomorrow morning and the temperature is only supposed to be 37 degrees. Brrr. It's almost time to set the outdoor faucets on drip and bring the lawnmower battery inside for the winter.

Puppies are today's Dalmatians of the Day

Watch of the Day

Day 2919 - Winter Solstice

It didn't seem like the shortest day of the year. It didn't seem like the first day of Winter either, since the temperature was over 70 degrees. Truthfully, it didn't even seem like Thursday. Instead of the sunset walks we used to take at this time of year, we take mid-afternoon walks now. I split Dash's dinner into two parts these days, since I've discovered that he's more likely to eat all his food that way. We walk between the 3 PM early dinner and the 4:30 PM late dinner. I eat much earlier now as well. By the time the sun sets at 5:30 PM, our day is already finished. I kind of miss the old sunset walks, but it is much easier to just let Dash do what he wants. With this new early-bird schedule, there are no worries about chance encounters with a pack of coyotes either.

Today was uneventful. I didn't bother to go up on the roof because it is supposed to rain all day tomorrow. I did buy a pair of pants though. Every Christmas I get a gift card from a local menswear store that says if I spend at least $100 they will take $50 off the price. This always seems like a bargain and I inevitably go buy something whether I need it or not. I didn't need another pair of pants. I didn't need shirts, socks, or shoes either. This just shows that I am as susceptible to marketing as the next guy. I bought an overpriced pair of pants I don't even need because I was convinced I was getting it for half price. I'm sure the store still made a decent profit on the transaction.

The neighbors who own the dog that bit me are doing some remodeling on their house. I watch the workmen come and go with trepidation, since they inevitably leave gates open and I worry that the dog will escape. I hate having to worry about aggressive or loose dogs. The neighborhood is full of them. There are two German Shepherds who haven't realized yet that they could easily jump over their low fence. There is a dog who was sweet as a puppy, but has become increasingly territorial as he's grown older. This wouldn't be a problem if the dog's owner didn't leave him out in their unfenced front yard in the mornings without a leash. There is one street that is so full of barking, nervous dogs that I won't even go down it anymore.

I wonder if the city realized what it was getting into when all these ride sharing bicycles arrived. There are literally hundreds of abandoned Limebikes in the park now. I think I counted almost thirty on our walk today. Downtown there are areas where sidewalks are completely blocked by these rental bicycles. I guess the concept is popular because I see people riding these bicycles all the time. I just don't understand why they are abandoned in such strange places. If you leave your Limebike under a tree in the park, where do you go from there? I don't like bicycles in general, but the Limebikes are the worst. This is just a new type of littering.

The forecast doesn't look good, but I hope it doesn't rain tomorrow. If it's a rainy day, Dash won't get a morning walk and I probably won't be able to go out for breakfast. I"m already trying to decide whether to fix pancakes, make an omelette, or have a bowl of oatmeal and fruit. I'm becoming more and more like Dash. All I really think about is food.

Willow is today's Dalmatian of the Day

Watch of the Day

Day 2908

The Christmas tree is up. It's a small tree and all the ornaments are Dalmatians. Periodically new ornaments are added and occasionally ornaments are removed. Most of the Dalmatians with angel wings are now sitting on top of the little urns on the coffee table that contain the ashes of Spot, Petey, Greta, Mindy, and Dot. We don't put presents under the tree anymore. Once the dogs realized that many of them contained treats for them, they wouldn't leave the packages alone.

Before I could deal with the Christmas tree, I had to remove all the equipment from yesterday's photo shoot. I put away the things that had a place in the office and took the rest of the stuff to the storage warehouse. Every time I visit my storage space, I  realize that the day is coming when I'll have to come to terms with all this clutter. The warehouse has become a black hole that sucks up everything I can't figure out what to do with. There are a few treasures here and there, but most of the stuff is old equipment that isn't useful anymore, but will never be collectible either. It will take an enormous amount of energy to clean this place up and I'm not sure I'm up to the task.

With all the Santa Paws gear out of the way and the Christmas tree in place, I realized that the house was very dirty. I spent the rest of the day vacuuming, changing sheets, and cleaning dog blankets. Dash's protective boots were starting to look threadbare, so I repaired them too. The house doesn't really look much better, but at least I tried.

When we took Dash on his morning walk, there were lots of people preparing for the BMW Dallas Marathon. This used to be called the White Rock Marathon, but I guess everything has a corporate sponsor now. I'm not a runner, but this was definitely a beautiful day for a race. It is almost a tradition to have terrible weather for this marathon. Our house is fairly close to the course and we've watched runners compete in pouring rain many times.

When I returned to the park for Dash's afternoon walk, the same crews that were setting up things things this morning were tearing everything down again. By tomorrow morning, all the signage, rest stations, and temporary parking will be gone. I like the park best when nothing is happening and all I hear are ducks quacking. Our walks are really the only time when Winter weather is welcome. Our dogs have always liked cooler weather and I like the fact that the bicycles virtually disappear. On nice days there are bicycles everywhere and I have to be careful that we don't get run over. On chilly days, Dash and I have the park to ourselves.

Dash didn't have a Cerenia pill yesterday and he still seemed completely normal today. This is good news. I'm sure that Dash will have a vestibular episode again, but maybe he can catch a break and enjoy a few months as a normal dog. This disease never really goes away, but the symptoms can subside for months at a time. Dash is lucky that he still seems to be able to recover from these periodic episodes. Some dogs don't.

I'm not sure what I'll be doing tomorrow. There are lots of things around the house that still need attention and I'm not finished with my website project either. There are fresh strawberries, blueberries, blackberries, and bananas for my morning smoothie, so I guess we'll start there.

Princess is today's Dalmatian of the Day

Watch of the Day

Day 2484

Sunday is usually the busiest day of the week. It's the last chance to catch up on chores I should have done earlier in the week before it's time to start all over again. I debated on whether to clean the house or go to the gym first. If I go to the gym first, I'm usually too tired to clean. If I clean first, I'm too tired for a workout. The dirty house practically demanded to be made a priority. As I was vacuuming, I wondered if there was anything left that I actually enjoyed anymore. I stay busy. I keep my commitments. I try not to let life get me down. We're taught that life should be an adventure, but often it just feels like a long hike up a very steep hill.

I woke up three times last night thinking that Dot had pooped in her bed. Each time it was a false alarm. I was so tired that when she had her inevitable accident around 6 AM, I was fast asleep. I woke to the sound of her coughing after she tried to eat the mess. This was a frustrating way to start the day. Dot barks all the time. Why couldn't she just learn to bark after she poops at night. I'd have everything cleaned up in a jiffy, if she'd just bark and give me a head's up.

I've been noticing that I'm not as hungry as I used to be. I just can't eat as much anymore. Sunday breakfast is frequently bacon and eggs with a couple of biscuits on the side. Janet used to fix an entire package of bacon and cook three or four eggs to share between us. Today, I only felt like having a couple of pieces of bacon and was full after eating one egg. Breakfast was delicious, but I just wasn't hungry. This isn't like me. I'm even eating less when I go out on Friday morning.

Even though I was tired, I went to the gym anyway. There were people using the basketball court when I got there, so I had to change up the order of my workout, in hopes that they would eventually go away. Most of my workout is about as much fun as mowing the grass, but I do enjoy shooting baskets. The weird thing is whatever I do at the gym, it almost always takes exactly 63 minutes to complete the workout. I purposely never look at my watch until I'm finished and I'm amazed that even though I sometimes use different machines and never spend the same amount of time shooting free throws, my total elapsed time is always exactly the same. It's like I have some kind of internal clock telling me that after 63 minutes, I need to get out of that place.

Last year, the city paved one of the trails I use to walk the dogs and turned it into a bike path. Using this path has become hazardous on weekends because it is filled with cyclists who have little regard for dogs. Dash likes to zig-zag from one side of the path to the other, depending on which side smells better. I have to be real careful that we don't get run over. It's impossible to daydream on our walks anymore. The place has become a race track. Don't get me wrong. I have nothing against bicycles.  It's just the aggressive Type-A people who ride them I hate.

I wonder if not buying a pumpkin for your front porch counts as an effort to simplify your life. For years I put pumpkins on the porch in October but they just rotted. They didn't even make the porch look better. I think we'll skip the pumpkins this year.

Bailey is today's Dalmatian of the Day

Watch of the Day

Day 1771

When we were taking our morning walk, we encountered a work crew laying concrete for the new bicycle superhighway that is replacing our favorite path. The sun had just risen and there was just enough ground fog reflecting the sunlight to make it look like the crew was working with molten lava instead of concrete. I found the image strangely beautiful, but I'm not really looking forward to the completed bicycle path. Most of the cyclists the dogs and I encounter are very rude. They like to ride as fast as they can on the narrow trails and seldom slow down or even try to get out of the way of people walking their dogs. We've almost been run over by cyclists several times. These Type-A maniacs will love the new concrete bike path. The dogs and I will have to find an alternate route.

I'm sleeping better these days, but my dreams are becoming so mundane that they're starting to include people and situations from everyday life. This had got to stop. Life is boring enough as it is, without dreamland becoming a six hour extension of my daily routine. Where are those flying dreams I used to have? We need some of those.

I spent most of the day writing and will probably do the same tomorrow. My assignments are quite familiar by now, but my mind still goes blank occasionally. When I can't think of anything, I'll hop in the car and take a bill to the post office or a check to the bank. When that doesn't do the trick, I'll go pick up a prescription at the pharmacy or go grocery shopping. I never go very far, because the dogs don't like being left alone and I don't like negotiating Dallas traffic. I think I've come as close to being a hermit in a big city as you can get.

I got a notice from Shutterstock today asking me to send them a W-9 form so they could report my earnings. What? I think I've made a total of $14 from Shutterstock since I've joined. Since you have to meet a $100 threshold level before most of these stock photo sites will actually pay you anything, maybe I'll be sending in that W-9 form about five years from now.

The weather is beautiful right now. It's usually about 65 degrees when we wake up in the morning and then warms up to around 80 degrees by mid-afternoon. The dogs love to spend time in the back yard during the Fall. It is tempting to just leave the back door open so they can come and go as they please. Unfortunately, there are far too many critters in the yard. If I left the back door open even five minutes, the living room would be filled with wasps and there would probably be a squirrel in the kitchen. As soon as I shut the door to keep the wasps out, the dogs want to come in again. As soon as they're both inside, they want to go out again. Back and forth we go, but at least the weather is nice.

Lance is today's Dalmatian of the Day

Watch of the Day

Day 1744

When I was walking the dogs this morning I noticed a bulldozer ripping up the trail we normally use. Now there is just a lot of loose dirt that will immediately turn into a mud pit as soon as it rains. I think the city is planning to replace the trail with a much wider concrete bicycle highway to accommodate all the cyclists who like to ride in the park. I'm not looking forward to this. The trail has been a nice, peaceful place to walk the dogs for many years and as soon as the cyclists arrive, it will just be another place to avoid. Bicycles and dogs on a leash don't mix. The dogs and I have almost been run over by Type-A cyclists too many times to count. When you're on the same trail together, these guys, and they're almost always guys, don't want to slow down or move over for anybody.

I probably won't have to worry about the bicycles for quite a while. City projects move exceedingly slow. It will take at least a month for them to rip out the old trail. Then it will take another month to construct the wooden forms and place the steel rebar reinforcement before actually pouring the concrete. Sooner or later though, this bicycle highway will be finished and I'll have to find a quieter place to walk the dogs.

Life is gradually returning to normal. The dogs are healthy again and Dot's incontinence problems seem to be over. My workload has returned to a predictable mix of writing and website design. I'm busy, but not too busy. There seems to be plenty of time for a leisurely breakfast and long dog walks while still meeting deadlines. The familiar routines aren't all that exciting, but they're comfortable. As long as the dogs stay healthy, I'm OK with this.

Dot was stronger today and participated in many of the exercises at our training class this evening. Both dogs seemed to enjoy the cool, pleasant weather. Since the autumnal equinox was yesterday, the days will start to get noticeably shorter now. It's already dark by the time training class is over and pretty soon it will be dark before we even begin. The sky was clear and I recognized a few constellations overhead as Dash and I did our training exercises tonight. It made me wish I'd bought something when I went to the telescope store the other day.

Tomorrow is Dot's physical therapy day. She's still not quite as strong as she was before her illness, but she's getting close. Her progress reminds me that physical therapy actually works. I really need to get one of my doctors to refer me for physical therapy myself. It would sure be nice to have a functional shoulder again.

Scout is today's Dalmatian of the Day

Watch of the Day