Day 4838

What a strange day. We woke up under severe weather warnings with some ominous looking dark clouds overhead. I took a quick look at the weather radar and then we hurridly took Dawn on a quick morning walk. Our timing was next to perfect because as soon as we returned home there was a bright flash of lightning and some very loud thunder. The lightning must have hit something nearby because shortly after this our power went out.

The power came on again within a few minutes, but this was just the first in a series of power outages this morning. Dawn doesn't like power outages and they bother her even more when Janet is gone. The multiple power outages totally freaked Dawn out and she began acting weirdly. She started hiding in corners and trying to get into closets. For some reason our big bed was no longer a safe place and she wanted out of the bedroom. She ended up sitting in a living room chair next to a window which always bothers me because the chair is next to a glass coffee table and Dawn could hurt herself if she didn't get off the chair carefully.

I wasn't able to comfort or reassure Dawn because she is usually scared of me anyway. She seemed to want to go outside, but when I let her out she tried to make a nest in the ground cover. I eventually just let her sit on the living room chair because that's where she wanted to be. She didn't really settle down until hours later when Janet returned with the groceries. I thought Dawn would be fine once the power was restored, but it didn't seem to make any difference. Once Dawn goes into panic mode, it's hard to get her out of it.

Luckily, when Janet came home with the groceries Dawn started returning to normal. She still didn't want to go in the bedroom though, which was very strange. I think battling with fear this morning wore her out. She seemed exhausted this afternoon and is still sleeping on the bed right now. Dawn really doesn't like surprises. I don't like surprises either, but Dawn's reaction is pretty extreme. Hopefully the next few days will be completely uneventful so she can get her confidence back.

I got a real late start on my long walk today because I didn't want to leave Dawn alone while she was in panic mode. I was kind of tired myself by the time I started walking but I managed to finish my route. The weather this afternoon was completely different than it was this morning. The skies were clear and blue with pleasant warm temperatures. We got quite a bit of rain this morning, but by mid-afternoon it was like the storm never even happened. Luckily we didn't get the worst of the storm. The really bad weather went to the south of us.

When I was walking today I gave some thought to what I want to do next. Sadly, my mind was a blank. I don't feel like driving out to the observatory anymore and I'm not even that excited about going down to Florida for launches. I've never liked flying that much and all the current airline problems have caused old fears to return. Maybe Dawn and I aren't all that different. My favorite thing is sleeping now. What was I thinking yesterday? I really don't need another large format printer because I haven't been doing gallery shows for a long time. Most of my unsold art is sitting in the storage warehouse. I definitely don't need all the music gear in the office. I haven't written and recorded my own songs in ages. All these former interests seem curious and strange to me now. How did I get interested in this stuff in the first place? I'm not even sure how I got interested in rockets.

Tomorrow is another day. Hopefully it will be a day where Dawn remains calm and happy. For my part I'll make a grocery list and do my weekly shopping. I won't need to get gas because I didn't drive anywhere this week. I'm sure I'll take a long walk. I always take a long walk.

Chelsey is today's Dalmatian of the Day

Watch of the Day

Day 4101

We had quite a storm last night. A strong wind and the sound of thunder woke me up and I had trouble getting back to sleep. I checked my phone to make sure that we weren't under a tornado watch and then I checked on Dawn. For a dog that is scared of everything, she is remarkably unaffected by storms. Severe weather doesn't seem to bother her at all. Eventually I dozed off and when I woke up this morning, the sound of thunder had been replaced with the sounds of the bulky trash trucks picking up all the junk that had been piled at the curb.

It was too wet to use the hedge trimmers I bought yesterday. I made sure that the pumps on the roof were working and then slowly drank my morning smoothie as I looked for something interesting to watch on TV. Dawn wouldn't eat her breakfast this morning which kind of worried me. Whenever a Dalmatian won't eat, something has to be wrong. I remembered hearing her stomach rumble when I woke up in the middle of the night, so I suspect that she got into something bad in the yard. Janet and I decided to wait and see if her appetite returned for dinner before becoming too alarmed.

The sky looked unusually dusty this morning, but the wind was blowing so hard that all the dust disappeared by mid afternoon. When I went on my long walk, I almost got blown over a few times. With the wind in my face, today's walk was quite a workout. I saw five large trees that had gotten blown over in the park and was extremely thankful that none of our own trees were damaged. Over the years we have lost about half of our mature Oak and Elm trees to storm damage. The trees are old and nearing the end of their natural life. Sadly, I think the rest of them need to be removed to insure that they won't fall on the house during a future storm. Violent storms are just a fact of life in Texas. Luckily, the worst of last night's storm went to the North of us.

I've got to think of something interesting to augment my daily walks. The walks eat up a lot of time, but they aren't like the many projects that used to occupy me for months at a time. I've lost interest in so many things. When I look around the office, it feels like a stranger put a lot of the stuff here. I'm no longer interested in making large Giclée prints or having gallery shows. I don't think my large production printer even works anymore. It's been decades since I've played in a band. I don't even write songs or play musical instruments these days. I don't collect things either. In fact, the last several years have been devoted to getting rid of many of my collections. I don't even find these waning interests strange. It's been this way my entire life. I don't expect my current interest in space and astronomy to last forever, but I'm sure I'll always be interested in something. I wonder what comes next.

Luckily, Dawn's appetite returned in time for dinner. She was eager to eat the same things she refused to touch for breakfast. Who knows what was wrong earlier today, but I suspect that it was an upset stomach. Dawn seemed kind of moody today as well. She gets that way when Janet is gone for any length of time. It's a shame that Dawn has decided to be a one person dog, especially since I spend a lot more time around the house than Janet does. We're working on becoming friends, but it is a very slow process.

I guess I'll watch the Artemis-1 static fire on NASA TV tomorrow. At one point I was planning to go down to Stennis Space Center to watch this in person, but I'm glad I never pursued it. With Covid restrictions still in place, I probably wouldn't have been approved anyway. Maybe by the time this gigantic rocket makes its way down to Kennedy Space Center things will be back to normal. This is one launch I'd really like to see. Until then, I'll continue walking, keep learning more about astrophotography, and keep trying to win Dawn's favor with cheese.

Alison is today's Dalmatian of the Day

Watch of the Day