Day 3860

I've got a lot to learn about taking comet pictures. I went back to the same hill where I went last night, but this time I took a telephoto lens. This was probably a mistake. The comet was still lost in the haze around the horizon and you couldn't see it with the naked eye. I found it easily enough with binoculars, but I couldn't see it with the camera viewfinder. You had to point the camera in the general direction of the comet, take an exposure, and see what you got.

The lens I took didn't have a hard stop at infinity either. You could focus past infinity which made it even harder to focus on something you couldn't see. I finally found the comet but it didn't look like those pretty pictures I've been seeing on the internet. There was too much light pollution from the city and too much haze along the horizon. If the comet would stick around for another month or so, I might finally get this right.

My hilltop vantage point seemed kind of weird tonight as well. There were lots of kids milling around in the dark. Several hundred yards away from me, there was a group having a DJ party in the dark with a portable sound system and a lot of people were dancing around waving glow sticks. Cars would drive by from time to time and their headlights would ruin my long time exposure shot. I wonder if this goes on every night? You certainly wouldn't know there was a pandemic going on. Have I mentioned that I miss the quiet solitude of the David Mountains.

We got an early start on our walk this morning. There wasn't a cloud in the sky and as soon as the sun came up you could feel the heat. All the early morning exercisers must start at 7 AM. When we leave the house a little before 6, we have the park to ourselves. By 7 the trails start to fill with joggers and dog walkers. Sundays aren't as busy as Saturdays, but I'm still surprised at how many people are out this early. We saw the green parrots again this morning. All the baby ducks we began noticing last month are growing up fast. I enjoy watching the birds and animals on our walks. I think Dawn does too, but she didn't see any rabbits today.

I thought about taking a telescope when I went looking for the comet tonight, but decided against it. I got out the telescope during the afternoon and reviewed putting it together and aligning it. I think I'm missing a few parts. I have so many things that I have forgotten how to use and the telescope is one of them. It's a shame that there are so many lights in our neighborhood at night. The telescope is virtually useless in the back yard unless I wanted to look at the moon. I didn't know what to expect at my hilltop location tonight, so I wanted to be able to hop in the car and leave quickly if I had too. The telescope was just too cumbersome. Oh, well. I did get to see the comet again and take some mediocre pictures.

This weekend has gone quickly. The monotony of pandemic life is starting to get to me. I don't miss talking to people all that much, but I do miss being able to make plans. You really can't go anywhere now. Janet and I talk about taking a car trip, but where would you go? Neither of us like camping. Flying is out of the question now and even staying in a hotel seems questionable. I don't think anyone wants visitors from Texas or Florida anyway. I may try to get a better picture of the comet tomorrow. Who knows when I'll get a chance to see another one.

Jade is today's Dalmatian of the Day

Watch of the Day

Day 3859

I found most of the items on my grocery list this morning. It remains to be seen whether I'll find the comet tonight. While I was out grocery shopping and running errands today, I scouted some more promising locations. Everyone says you have to be at least ten miles away from the city to see this thing with the naked eye. I'm not going that far, but I did find a little hill that might be better than down by the lake. We'll see. I hate driving at night. I might not even have the nerve to leave the house tonight.

We got a late start on our morning walk, but at least we had a breeze this morning. Saturday morning is always busier than other days of the week. We see the same people in the park day after day. At first I thought it was curious that everyone seemed to always wear the same clothes when they walk or jog. Then I realized that Janet and I do the same thing. I guess there is no sense in changing outfits on pre-dawn walks. We know the names of a few other dogs now. People are always curious about Dawn. We trade names and ages of our dogs as we pass on the trails. We keep our distance, but early morning walkers seem like a nice group of people.

I found blueberries again at the store, but I don't think I'll ever find Clorox Wipes. Now that conditions are getting worse in Texas, I hope people don't go back in hoarding mode. Shopping was just starting to feel normal again with most items back on the shelves. People do seem a bit nervous now. I know I am. When I was getting gas this morning I noticed two ladies sitting in their car at the next pump. They were both wearing gas masks that covered their entire face and purple rubber gloves inside their car. I haven't seen that before. I still wear the old drywall masks I bought at a hardware store a long time ago. I'm not sure how good they are, but they seem to last a long time.

Days are still extremely uneventful. I easily got my 20,000 steps today after two walks and a little grocery shopping. I'm working on getting Dawn to trust me more. She's still more comfortable around women, since the breeders who mistreated her were both men. I've learned never to make any sudden moves when I'm around her. She walks well on a leash with me and relaxes when we are both on the bed together. She's still a little wary when I'm doing something unfamiliar though. I'm fairly predictable. Eventually everything will become familiar. You just have to be patient with rescue dogs.

I think I'm going to go ahead and get a haircut. My stylist really needs the work. Since I'm retired, it's easy for me to forget how hard the pandemic has been on people who have a small business. Gig workers have it the worst I think. My stylist is very careful and I have an N-95 mask. I don't think I can wait until this is over anyway. Covid is going to be with us for a very long time.

You didn't know I was gone, but I took a break from writing for a couple of hours and went looking for the comet. Found it. I went to the only hill I could find in Dallas and discovered that there were other people looking as well. One couple I spoke with had even been out to a special observing night at McDonald Observatory. The comet was almost impossible to see with the naked eye, but looked spectacular in my image stabilized binoculars. I took some pictures but they didn't turn out very well. The sky just wasn't dark enough. I did see a pretty bright meteor though. Too bad my camera was pointed in the other direction at the comet. It was surprising to meet random astronomy people on a hill in the dark in the middle of a pandemic. They were nice people though. Maybe a comet brings out the best in us.

Beemer is today's Dalmatian of the Day

Watch of the Day

Day 3858

I can't decide whether to go looking for the comet again tonight. The sky is relatively clear. I know exactly where to look now. I also know that the perpetual haze on the horizon will prevent me from seeing anything. I still have some mosquito bites from my previous comet search as well. It's a tough choice. I'd like to see this thing, but I also like staying inside where it is air conditioned and bug free. Why don't I live in the mountains where I could just walk out on the front porch and enjoy a cool breeze and a beautiful dark sky?

Today was exceptionally uneventful. I got out some older digital cameras and tried to relearn the menu structure. I discovered the other day that my best camera doesn't have a camera raw profile in Photoshop. This is because I refuse to buy a new copy of Adobe Creative Suite. My old Photoshop works best with my older cameras. Usually this isn't a problem, but I'm going to need the camera raw format to get a decent picture of the comet.

I typically spend my days learning new things on the Internet and then promptly forgetting them again. Today I tried to relearn everything about my old Olympus cameras. I feel sorry for kids if they don't get to go back to school this Fall. Online learning has its limits. I learn best by actually doing something  wrong and then doing it again and again until I finally get it right. Somehow, watching a YouTube video just doesn't do the trick for me. If we have enough clear days I'll eventually get a good picture of the comet. I'm sure there will be a lot of trial and error involved.

We had a nice walk this morning, but had to cut things short on the way home. The skies were clear  and as soon as the sun rose, the temperature began to climb immediately. I wasn't surprised that Dawn chose the short route home. Starting these walks before sunrise is the only way to go. I still take an afternoon walk without Dawn, but it is only because I'm a creature of habit. There is no joy in the afternoon sun.

Tomorrow it's time to get groceries again. Who ever thought that getting groceries would feel like a dangerous activity. I"m more aware of other people now and not in a good way. You have to wonder if some of our "new normal" behavior will become permanent? It probably will. Nothing is casual anymore. Did I remember to bring several masks and some cleaning wipes. I usually need a spare mask because I'm always breaking the elastic straps on the cheap paper kind. I try to remember to bring a doggie poop bag as well in case I need to pump gas. I used to bring some Clorox Wipes with me but we used those up a long time ago. My sense of smell is still good and I've become aware of how far away you can smell someone's perfume or cologne. I keep thinking that if virus droplets travel that far, we're all doomed.

Maybe I'll find blueberries tomorrow. My smoothie always tastes better with blueberries. The little things matter when you can't do the big things. Hmm. I think it's time to get gas again. I used to do this once a week. Now once a month is plenty. I doubt that I'll go to the gym this weekend. I haven't even gotten a haircut yet. Basically, the "new normal" means doing nothing at all.

Riley is today's Dalmatian of the Day

Watch of the Day

Day 3856

I received a notice this morning that NASA rejected my request for media accreditation for the July 30th Mars 2020 launch. The language in the notice was exactly the same as it was for the DM-2 launch last month.  "Due to the continued COVID-19 pandemic, we had to limit the number of media permitted on site, etc..." I wasn't going to go to Florida anyway, since it has become one of the world's leading virus hotspots, but this was still sad news. How long is this going to go on? I'm sure there are many people who have had more important plans interrupted, but this is very frustrating. I haven't heard from the Air Force yet, but I doubt that they are credentialing out of state visitors right now either. Florida is struggling. So is Texas for that matter. Maybe 2021 will be better.

The skies have been clearing this afternoon and I decided to try and find the comet this evening. I scouted out a few locations on my afternoon walk and thought if the skies remained clear, I might finally be able to see it. The best location I found still has some trees on the horizon, so wasn't sure if the comet would clear them. I wasn't sure if sunset haze would obscure things either. Hey, what did I have to lose.

It was another hot day. Getting started on our morning walk before 6 AM really helps. It is noticeably cooler before the sun rises. Today we had a nice breeze and lots of cloud cover too. We had a nice walk and were able to complete our full five miles. Dawn seems to be an early bird. She likes these early walks as long as she gets her breakfast first. Dogs have their priorities. I'm content to wait for breakfast until we finish our walk, but Dawn wants to eat as soon as she gets out of bed in the morning.

If I'm able to find the comet tonight, I'll want to take a picture of it as well. Hmm. How do I take long time exposures with my good camera? Seems like I've done this before, but it's been a while. I looked up directions on the Internet and the procedure was a little more complicated than I anticipated. With old mechanical cameras you just set the shutter on bulb and used a locking cable release to activate the shutter. With modern digital cameras you have to disable a lot of automatic functions before you can use the camera manually.

After spending an hour looking for the comet, I finally had to admit defeat. I saw nothing. The sky was pretty clear, but there was haze on the horizon. Actually, there is always a thin haze on the horizon down by the lake. If I really want to see this comet, I'm going to have to get in the car and look for a higher elevation. It's possible that I was just looking in the wrong place, but I don't think so. There were many maps on the Internet showing just where to look.

I've never been wild about venturing into the park at night. It's dark, there are coyotes, and there are always the voices. I can always hear people off in the distance that I can't see. What are these people doing? Every time I've gone into the park to look at stars at night, I hear these hidden voices. It's kind of creepy.

When I returned to the house from my futile comet hunting excursion Dawn didn't initially recognize me and started barking like crazy. She's a good little watch dog. I wish she'd watch things a little more carefully though and realize that it's me coming in the house. Don't bite me girl. I'm friendly.

Lizzy is today's Dalmatian of the Day

Watch of the Day