Day 4179

At least I made an effort today. I've been promising forever to cut down the dead Photinia trees in the back yard. I don't know what happened to them. They looked nice for over twenty years and then one Spring, two thirds of them abruptly died. The dead trees are an eyesore now, but they are large enough that they are difficult for me to remove.

Years ago I decided that I was never going to use a chain saw. Several friends of mine have gotten seriously injured using chain saws and they are not the best tool for a clumsy person. I use a reciprocating saw instead. I don't like battery powered tools, so I have a heavy duty 15 amp corded model. The saw weighs ten pounds and will cut through anything. It's not really meant to cut through trees though. These saws are mostly used in the construction industry for demolition work. A small chain saw would be ten times faster and probably weigh a lot less. It's what I got though, and I did promise to remove those trees.

I eventually removed four of the dead Photinia trees, plus as couple of small scrub trees that had grown up next to our back fence. This was all I could handle for one day. The saw was heavy and hard to hold parallel to the ground so I could saw the trees down at the base. The dry dead wood was like sawing through Oak. It took a long time. Sometimes the small blade would get stuck in the tree and it would take me forever to free it. No wonder I waited so long to do this. I've still got four more trees to remove, but I'll save them for another day. Maybe sometime next year.

I had to rest for a bit before I was ready to walk Dawn with Janet. Dawn was ready, but she'd been resting all morning. I felt like taking a shower and a long nap, but I knew I'd just get hot and sweaty all over again on my walk. I was kind of mad that my Fitbit didn't really register the effort it took to remove those trees.

This was another day where it was supposed to rain, but didn't. It was overcast, but there wasn't much of a breeze. I wish there was a little wind because it would have kept me cooler. Dawn is still surprisingly adventurous on her walks. She goes somewhere different almost every day now. Her walks are still short and sometimes the new path she takes is very close to the old path, but it's still good to see her becoming more curious and less afraid.

I continued walking after Dawn and Janet returned to the house. Might as well get it over with, I thought. I knew I was going to be slow today and I was. I did complete my six miles though. The park isn't as full on weekdays anymore. I think this is a sign that people are slowly returning to work. Two of our local gaggle of geese have gone missing. I haven't seen them for almost two weeks now. It's hard to know if birds have died or just flown away. Sometimes they just disappear and I never see them again. I did see the Muscovy ducks though. These large ducks cover a lot of ground on the Eastern side of the lake and I never know where they will turn up. Sometimes I won't see then for weeks at a time, but they are always around somewhere.

I watched the CRS-22 resupply mission launch on the Space X live stream while I was eating lunch. Every time I see one of these launches I'm torn between wanting to return to Florida and wanting to avoid the state entirely until everyone gets their post-covid vacations out of their systems. Flights between Orlando and Dallas are packed right now. Rental cars are hard to find in Florida and everything is expensive. I'm thinking that it's probably a bad time to even think about attending launches. Communication has been poor with the magazine I write for as well. I'm not even sure if they are interested in me anymore.

With no travel plans on the horizon, I just took the trash out to the curb and am anticipating another uneventful Friday. I'm going to try my best to avoid yard work tomorrow. I'm still feeling tired and a bit sore.

Freckles is today's Dalmatian of the Day

Watch of the Day

Day 4118

The stores were crowded today. Passover is almost over so I guess most people were buying for Easter meals. Some stores are discounting masks and toilet paper now. There doesn't seem to be a shortage of anything. Those stickers on the floor that tell people to stay six feet apart are largely ignored these days. It basically just seemed like a normal shopping day.

While I was out this morning I stopped at an abandoned Fry's store that was selling fixtures and equipment. There were some great bargains for anyone starting a business that required lots of bins and out of date computers. The store's PC's and printers were all on sale for $50 each. I don't know who would buy these things though. They were all old and showed lots of wear. I bought nothing.

When we walked Dawn today, she took the new route that she discovered yesterday again. We have no idea why this route seems more appealing now. As we made out way through the neighborhood, we kept noticing that there was an unusual amount of remodeling and landscaping projects going on. Everyone appears to be fixing up their houses and yards. Maybe some people are hurting from the pandemic, but I'm not seeing it. The real estate market is booming. The stock market is booming. A lot of people seem to be doing better than they ever were.

Janet was gone for most of the afternoon, so Dawn and I spent some quality time together. I stayed outside with her for quite a while, but inside she still won't leave the bedroom. When I fixed her dinner, she wouldn't even come out and eat it until Janet returned. It's been a year now, so she should have adjusted to anything that needs adjusting. Maybe I'm missing something, but it just doesn't look like it's going to happen.

I'm still spending a little time each day familiarizing myself with the new star tracker and camera. I oscillate between genuine interest and befuddlement. Sometimes I look at this stuff and wonder why I even bought it. The night sky is interesting, but if I had a choice I'd probably opt for a good night's sleep. If I ever really got serious about backyard astronomy, I'd probably have to start writing the blog during the day. By the time I finish each night's post, I'm done for the day. On most nights I'm way too tired to spend another three hours staring up at the sky.

Today I was almost too tired to take my long walk. I definitely didn't set any records this afternoon. My foot hurt for most of the walk and my right knee still feels stiff. I saw the mean little duck that chased away all the larger ducks while I was walking. I haven't seen her in over a month and was wondering if she was still around. Today she was peacefully eating with a bunch of Coots. Most of the White Pelicans have flown away, but there are still a few stragglers. I thought they would all leave together, but there are still about half a dozen left.

I tried running my laptop off of an external drive this afternoon in hopes that I could get it to run the software I'll need for the astrophotography workshop in May. The laptop ran way too slow to be useful unfortunately. Sadly, I'll probably end up attending the workshop with the wrong cameras and computer, just like I did last time. I'm not about to convert to a PC just for a few evenings under a dark sky.

I'm already looking forward to Easter dinner. Such a simple life I lead. I mostly just think about food and wonder why Dawn doesn't like me.

Lexi is today's Dalmatian of the Day

Watch of the Day