Day 4244

It was a busy Saturday. We took our sunrise walk, but Dawn still isn't wanting to walk very far. Where did that little burst of energy come from a few weeks ago? We're trying to use up some things that partially thawed when the freezer malfunctioned last week, so we had a package of toaster waffles for breakfast. They were actually pretty good. When I ran my Saturday errands, I got some long foam tubes at Home Depot to make more professional looking inserts for my camera case. I also filled the car with gas, picked up some salicylic acid at the pharmacy, and did my grocery shopping. Everybody was wearing masks at Sam's Club, but almost nobody was wearing masks at Central Market. Go figure. It's Hatch Chili season again in Texas. I don't understand the fascination with Hatch Chilis, but for one month a year, you can get Hatch Chile pound cake and cookies, Hatch Chile Sourdough Bread, Hatch Chile potato salad, Hatch Chile burgers and rotisserie chickens, along with all sorts of Hatch Chile concoctions at the deli counter.

Since I got started early, I was still able to make it to the gym before they closed at 1 PM. You have to wear a mask when you check in now, but you can take it off as soon as you get down to the gym floor and start exercising. I don't know what this proves, but we are all pretty good about following the rules. Some people continue wearing their mask during their workout, but most don't. I don't spend as much time at the gym on Saturdays, but I did get my steps and fill all the rings on my Apple Watch. I'm continuing to work on upper body strength, but I don't know how much progress I'm making.

I've started taking the antibiotics the dentist prescribed for my root canal. Dawn and I are both taking antibiotics now. Her paws are starting to look a little better, but I don't know if this has anything to do with the meds she's taking. I think it's mostly because she's wearing a cone a lot now. We always put the cone on when we're both going to be out of the house. You don't have to leave Dawn unsupervised very long before she starts biting at her paws again. 

When I went to the gym today, there was a line of cars wrapped all the way around the block at the Covid testing site. New pandemic fears certainly aren't stopping people from shopping though. Grocery stores were full today and the Northpark Mall looked like it was Christmas. There wasn't a parking place anywhere. I picked up Chinese take out for dinner and PF Chang's was absolutely packed. There wasn't an empty table in the place and everybody was seated close together. This is all very confusing to me. When you turn on the television, the sky is falling. When you're out in the community, everything seems normal. 

I basically don't trust anyone now. I don't trust what the government is telling me. I think the strangers I see are probably all infected with horrible diseases. You certainly can't trust the media anymore. Every time you change the channel, you get a completely different story. I wonder if anyone's done a study to see if extroverts get infected with Covid more frequently than introverts? I bet they do. They always seem to trace a big spike back to a party or a wedding.

It's a weird world we live in. They still haven't found the missing cobra in Grand Prairie. This snake will never make it all the way to Dallas unless it is already in someone's car. I guess we're safe on our Sunday outing tomorrow. I don't know why I'm worried about cobras. The park is full of poisonous snakes anyway. 

Lou is today's Dalmatian of the Day

Watch of the Day

Day 4040

I went along on Dawn's walk today. She seemed confident and happy. She trusts Janet and she seems to know that she doesn't have to walk too far anymore. We took turns holding the leash and it didn't seem to matter as long as Dawn was leading the way and could go wherever she wanted. One mile seems her limit now and she definitely knows the way home. Is there a lesson in this? I'm not sure, but it's clear that our fitness goals are not the same as Dawn's.

Maybe something happened after Dawn had the seizure. Maybe she's finally become confident enough to let us know what she really thinks. Either way, it's fine. Dawn is not a young dog and if she only wants to walk a mile, there's nothing wrong with that.

I'll continue taking long walks, mostly because I can't think of anything better to do. Walking is a great way to daydream and think. I find myself thinking about cars and astronomy a lot. When Covid fades from the scene, there are a lot of dark sky sites I'd like to visit. I almost never find myself thinking about politics and current events. I don't even care. My little world has always been a private one. Walking in the woods and watching ducks suits me just fine.

Today's walk was incredibly windy. The wind almost blew me over when I was walking by the shoreline. I always worry that another tree is going to blow over in the yard when we have strong winds. This is always when it seems to happen. Luckily, everything was still standing when I returned home. Today I saw three vultures eating a dead possum by the side of the road. They would take turns with one vulture tearing into the carcass at a time. There are three Muscovy ducks that I see almost every day. A small female joined the two males several months ago and now appears to be the leader of the group. She swims ahead of the two males and leads the way when they are on land as well. Ducks and geese always seem to have a leader. I wonder who gets to be the leader in those giant v-shaped formations I often see flying overhead?

I need to find a new way to occupy my time. Following rocket launches is getting harder and harder because of Covid restrictions. McDonald Observatory has closed again too. I doubt that they are going to be needing volunteer help for quite a while. I don't write songs anymore and I can't imagine building a website just for fun. So many things I used to enjoy just seem stupid now. It's probably not a good sign that my favorite activity now is taking long naps.

It's time to make a grocery list again. These weeks go by incredibly quickly. It seems like I was just making a list yesterday. The last time I went to the store, a lot of shelves were empty again. I hope people haven't resumed hoarding stuff. When other people start hoarding, you start hoarding as well and it quickly gets out of hand. It took us months to use up all the stuff we got last April.

I wish Dawn would start trusting me. Maybe that's too much to ask. There are people I know who still don't trust me.

Betty is today's Dalmatian of the Day

Watch of the Day

Day 3837

We've noticed that Dawn is more comfortable around women than men. I guess this is understandable. When she was used as a breeding dog, Dawn was owned by two men who didn't treat her very well. Dawn is friendly with me when Janet is home, but always seems a bit nervous when she and I are alone together. Usually she will just sit in the center of the bed until Janet returns. She will let me bring her a treat, but never follows me around the house or even goes outside. It's kind of sad. I'm good around dogs and have spend an enormous percentage of the past thirty years with a Dalmatian as my constant companion. I wonder how long it will take to win her trust?

I think we are doing all the right things. I'm the one who feeds her and gets her ready for walks in the morning. We're trying to get her to associate me with positive things. Dawn is eager to follow me to the kitchen and loves to be petted when Janet is home. She's certainly not unfriendly when we are alone, just wary, like she's waiting for the other shoe to drop. You never really know what a rescue dog's life was like before they enter the adoption program. Dawn clearly loves her new life. I've rarely seen a dog so happy to do simple basic things. She must have had some very bad experiences though when she was a puppy mill mom. Some memories never fade.

I'm a patient person, so hopefully I will win Dawn's trust over time. We are already starting to see some progress. It's something to work on. Janet loves to travel and if this coronavirus mess ever gets resolved, I'm sure there will be many times when Dawn and I will be alone together. It looks like we've got a lot of time to work on trust issues because the virus keeps getting worse in Texas. It doesn't look like either Janet or I is going anywhere soon.

It certainly doesn't look like I'll be going to Florida for the Mars 2020 launch. That state has turned into a disaster. Even Texas looks good compared to Florida. I don't think people in these Southern states are behaving much worse than people in other states. The virus is just slowly working its way from state to state. Nothing can stop it. Even the smallest rural areas will be hit sooner or later.

I wonder why it is such a human thing to want to gather together? Even when I am walking in the park, I notice that people tend to like to walk together in groups. I listen to birds. Everyone else chats. When I used to go out for breakfast on Friday mornings, I was always the only person eating alone. Walking alone is lovely. I even prefer going to a movie theater alone. This is why the solution to this virus problem seems so obvious to me.  If you catch the virus from other people, just stay away from them.

Why would you feel compelled to flock to a beach, hang out in a bar, or hit the streets marching or protesting right now? The virus doesn't care what you like to do. I think I'll postpone getting a haircut for a while longer. I've still got to get groceries tomorrow, but that feels pretty safe. I've been getting groceries for months now. Nobody talks or mingles. We just quickly push our buggies through the store like masked ghosts, all looking for Clorox Wipes.

When the definitive book about 2020 is written, I think the title will be "Unintended Consequences." I'm just waiting to see what happens next.

Derrick is today's Dalmatian of the Day

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