gurdonark

Yesterday I went to the Heard Natural Science Center and Wildlife Refuge. I saw two Anhingas, one deer, one lovely indigo Bunting, and a Little Blue Heron. I did a bit of work in the afternoon

Our niece who just graduated high school sent a nice thank-you note. I am not one of those people who worries a lot about folks sending us thank-you notes, but I still liked seeing this one.

Yesterday I listened to Kate Bowler interview Alan Alda for the "Everything Happens" podcast I heard a bit of medical advice that makes me want to bring something up with my doctor next time I have a check-up.

I like that chess.com offers chess tournaments which are officially rated by the US Chess Federation. This allows ratings to easily cross on-line platforms. Last night I entered late in a tournament and played 2 rounds, winning 1 to a lower-rated player and winning 1 over a much-lower-rated player.Then I played in the weekly on-line Wednesday blitz chess tournament at the Jackalope chess club on chess.com. I beat one higher-rated player and lost to wo higher-rated players, I like that this club has players who are a bit better than I am, but players that I can sometimes beat.

I am meeting deadlines at work and taking walks at lunch.

Friday night we drove to Dallas to see the Al Stewart concert. We arrived early enough to be able to park in its 8 dollar parking lot. The Grenada is an old movie theater from the 40s, which has been a concert place for decades. We ate at an Afghan restaurant called Ariana, which was a small storefront with a few tables. Our kebabs were quite good. The single server/cashier got a bit overwhelmed, so my samosas and my wife's black tea came out a bit late.

The concert was very good. The backing band (which also served as the opener) was excellent, and Al Stewart's voice and story-telling were not diminished by his 78 years. He performed "Time Passages," "Year of the Cat" and "On the Border" but not "Song on the Radio." Among his deeper cuts, he played "Versailles" but did not play "Paint by Numbers." The single encore was "Joe the Georgian" rather than one of the charted singles.

We made it home in good shape, only to realize that we needed to pick up my car from the parking lot at which my wife and I had linked up near her work. We loaded Sparrow in my wife's car and headed south again. We picked up my car, and, for fun, switched Sparrow to my car. He enjoyed the late night transit.

Saturday I took Sparrow to Rally Obedience at the Zoom Room. Sunday I got my car washed. Sunday I also got some work done. I have a fairly busy week ahead.

After a day or two of record high temperatures, we got some chilly, breezy and wet weather. Tonight after work we go to the Grenada Theater. I hope we find good parking.

I saw an American Kestrel on a phone wire in Founders Park in Wylie yesterday. Our saucer magnolia bloomed and now blooms are falling to the ground.

We watched the new television show Elsbeth last night. We enjoyed the first episode. It was retro in a good way.

I had a dream in which I was driving on a superhighway in the American South. I stopped when I saw some boxes off the road. They turned out to be legal files, something to do with a Uniform Commercial Code sale after a company defaulted on a debt. I figured out that the files belonged o a lawyer named Spencer Atwill. I took the boxes to his offices, where I was able to give them to a firm paralegal. But i never received a proper thank you, though with post-dream hindsight, I am not sure seeing a thank you was very noble. I last call trying to figure out a flight to take home.

Yesterday the temperature hit a record high. I fell asleep by 10 p.m. Today I am up early due to an early Zoom meeting. I want to get my green bicycle tires inflated. A teen rode past me the other evening. One bicycle wheel had a fluorescent-colored glow-in-the-dark apparatus.

Our dog Sparrow attends classes each week at the Zoom Room in McKinney. He graduated from Obedience 1, Obedience 2, Advanced Obedience and Basic Agility. He has the diplomas to prove it, though I am not clear on whether an official transcript exists.

For some months, his learning regime involved alternating classes in Advanced Agility with classes in Rally Obedience. However, after he professed to be uncertain about the elevated "walk it" apparatus with which he formerly felt at home, we switched his lesson plan to Rally Obedience every week. I am sometimes intrigued by how much he will stay on task without his harness on though at home sometimes he can be a bit off task.

I won an over-the-board chess tournament a few weeks ago with 2 wins and 2 draws. The other players were much lower-rated, so I lost ratring points. But I did get a small trophy. I still play in on-line rated tournaments, with mixed results. I alternate between playing in form and well below form.

We are browsing possible vacation destinations. I ordered new eyeglasses last night at the chain store EyeMasters. I plan to take a good walk in warm weather this morning.

We went to Cambria, California to visit our friends Ken and Heidi a few weeks ago. We liked Fiscalini Ranch, where we saw birds and seals.
We liked seeing the Southern Sea Otters at Morro Bay. We enjoyed the art experience Sensorio near Paso Robles. We enjoyed spending time with our friends.

The news is full of war as Israel prepares to invade Gaza after the terrorist activities by Hamas.

Sparrow continues to alternate between advanced agility class and rally obedience class. He is better at rally, but likes both. He frequently requests the opportunity to do the tricks he knows around the house.

Sunday the weather turned cold. Saturday I walked in Brockdale Park by Lavon Lake. I met a nice fellow named Scott from Washington state who was out walking his dogs--one walking and one being carried. We agreed that the recent House of Representatives speaker election did not give us much confidence in the Republican party. I liked the Brown Thrasher that I saw on that walk. A huge flock of migrating gulls passed overhead, but I was not sure which gull I saw.

Saturday the 21st I played in a chess tournament in Plano. I won two games against weaker competition and lost one to stronger competition. Last night I played in a rated on-line tournament and won 2 games and lost 2 games. In one loss, I managed to pull a loss out of a won position in a not-that-difficult endgame, so I must work on that next time.

We made plans to go to Kansas City in December.

We spent August 21 through 26 in Missoula, Montana. We enjoyed hiking, biking, and floating on the Clark Fork River. We spent the first afternoon after arriving at Milltown State Park. This state park is both a cool intersection of the Blackfeet and Clark Fork River and an EPA clean-up site.
We saw our first Bald Eagles of the trip, as well as a colorful grosbeak. Monday night we ate outdoors at a grand restaurant where the kind waitperson looked up bicycle rental places for us.

We started Tuesday morning on the Sam Braxton National Recreation Trail in the Pattee Canyon Area. The walk was filled with gentle inclines, vivid morning forest greens and mists. Tuesday afternoon we went to Council Bluffs State Park, where two immature Bald Eagles stood sentinel in a dead tree. Late Tuesday we hiked on the Corridor Trail at the Rattlesnake National Recreation Area. We were both taken with Rattlesnake Creek, which had a lovely shallow current crossing over the rocks.

Wednesday morning we went to Spotted Dog Cycles and rented bicycles. We then pedaled several miles on the Kim Williams Nature Trail. Missoula has great bicycle trails. We enjoyed the ride on a path which ran alongside the Clark Fork River. The trail took us to a golf course, at which point we turned around. I am curious how much further we could go--the trail seemed to end but not to be over. Wednesday evening we walked in Greenough Park, a charming wooded local par. Wednesday evening we had excellent pizza at Biga Pizza.

Thursday morning we drove about an hour to go on a river float with Montana River Guides. While I filled out the form to get individual kayaks for a scenic float, instead our guide put us in a single inflatable river kayak and guided our boat with long oars. He was a nice fellow, and it worked out fine. We saw Whitetail Deer, Common Mergansers, and numerous Belted Kingfishers.

On Friday we drove to the Lee Metcalf National Wildlife Reserve near Stevensville. We had a little confusion getting there, as the entrance did not have good signs. But we enjoyed it once we found our way in. We saw Trumpeter Swans, Eastern Kingbirds, an American Goldfinch and other birds. All in all, it was a great trip. Missoula is a university town of 80,000, with friendly people and good places to eat. We flew home on Saturday.

I had a quiet Labor Day of work and rest, and a couple of quiet weekends with work since then. Lately I have had some errands that take me to a bank drive-through to make deposits. The bank's only convenient location for personal deposits is 30 minutes away in the town of Anna. Three times Sparrow has accompanied me on these trips. He is buckled into the passenger seat on my subcompact SUV. The nice woman at the drive-through window sends him treats in the little deposit tubes used to hydraulically transmit deposits.

I am up to 101 bird species for the year in Collin County. There are a few species locally that I still hope to see. September is not the most species-diverse month. My count for September so far is 37, but my high count for any September is only 42.

I need to get my car inspected in the next 10 days. I had my first check-up by a dermatologist last week. He froze my face in two places.

The Summer weather runs hot this year, but not as hot as last year. Sparrow and I go for morning walks. The advent of school means that kids and parents walk to the school beside the park. The crossing guards do effective work while remaining friendly.

I've been very busy at work, but will some some days off soon. I celebrated my 64th birthday on Saturday. That sounds old, but old is a relative term. We ate tacos at a new place in McKinney called Freaky Taco. It was fine, freaky food.

I like old episodes of Perry Mason.

My bird count for Collin County for August is 40. Usually, I top out in August at 42, one of the lowest months for birds. The figure 42 reminds me of the Douglass Adams novels.

The news is full of legal proceedings involving the president who lost the last election. I am playing a lot of on-line bullet chess. I read with disappointment today of allegations that the US Chess Federation failed to address a sexual harassment allegation.

I want to search on eBay for a submarine drone. We'll see if I can find one.

I woke up early to walk with Sparrow around the nearby park pond. I saw 10 different bird species on our walk. Sparrow discreetly paid attention to the delights of the lawn by the pond as the greyhounds who dislike him passed by. Later, when an owner had her dog in "sit" position to avoid any contretemps, Sparrow responded well to my "leave it" command to similarly take any chance of a fracas out of the fracas.

Monday we watched the taped episode of the television program "The View" that included a tribute to Bill Geddie, its former showrunner. Bill was my first cousin, and a good guy. I did not know him as well as I know his younger brother Morgan, who is closer to my age. But I liked him. He was only 68, though I recall a time when I would not have said that somebody was "only 68."

I recall when Bill was 17, and I must have been 13 or so, he played a song on his guitar that he had written. It had a western theme--not as in country-and-western nor in western swing, but more Peckinpah western. I recall a lyric about someone seeking revenge for something, but I do not remember the words.

I've been working on spreadsheets lately. I am less adept with spreadsheets than with other office software, but I manage to get by.

The woman at the checkout counter at the Tom Thumb grocery remarked on the resurgence of interest in the Titanic.

The heat remains hot but less hot than last year. I got an unexpected call from my Aunt Rose last night. My wife installed new drivers in our home printer, which makes it work much better for scanning and printing. I got some spreadsheets prepared and sent out.

The heat is hotter than past summers, but only a bit hotter. A door-to-door salesguy sought to sell me solar last night. Then he asked for water, which I poured for him.

I like that the Roku Channel has Babylon 5 episodes.

A seller lowered the price on an eBay listing I was watching, so a used desktop computer is on its way.

I like that Montana public radio has a children's folk music, story and poetry program called Pea Green Boat. I did not know that the phrase is from "The Owl and the Pussycat."

I remember the children's story about the little boys who turned into gingerbread after falling in a vat of dough.

The welcome rain fell steadily from 9 a.m. to 11 a.m. I drove to Brockdale Park half an hour from my home. Brockdale Park is a small park adjacent to Lavon Lake. The rain had ended. But white caps showed on the lake. I listened to a podcast about distance learning and walked back and forth in the small park. A somewhat commonplace bird, the Double-Crested Cormorant, made for my 45th species sighted this month. I recently got a used camera on eBay to replace my latest failed used camera. I also got a back-up camera or two, but I have not tried them out yet.

I drove to Highland Park, also on Lavon Lake. I liked the Queen butterfly flitting among the flowers. I listened to a podcast about non-hibernating bears in Montana. Trumpetflower is in bloom. Men fished from the boat launch and from the rocky shore.

I went to my office and worked for a bit. I was glad to get some things done. I walked in Breckinridge Park, where I saw Rowlett Creek swollen due to the rain.

I went to the south side of Bob Woodruff Park in Plano. I listened to the radio program "Selected Shorts." I took pictures of an Eastern Kingbird and of an Eastern Phoebe. I counted 17 Mallard ducks.

We watched Grantchester and DI Ray on public television. Last night we finished streaming Ted Lasso which we enjoyed very much. I posted to Threads, which so far I consider a much better alternative to Twitter. I also posted to Mastodon, which I like but which seems to have less traffic.

I ate a skin-less smoked half-chicken from Soul Man BBQ for dinner.

Since I last posted, Sparrow earned his certificate in Advanced Obedience, and his certificate in Agility 1. He likes Agility 2, which involves tunnels, hurdles, ramps and hoops. But we hope to also take him to Rally class, as Rally i about doing tricks in sequence, which is very much up his alley.

Last night the Lenovo ThinkCentre I bought 6 years ago used appears to have reached end-of-life. I got a lot of great use out of that machine. I will buy another used desktop computer, and install Q4OS on it. Then begins the quick process of re-adjusting its look and feel, adding my favorite Linux software, and then configuring the odd music software I like to run on a linux system via WINE.

Things proceed apace here. One of my law partners just left our small firm. This has entailed some administrative efforts. I am in the last few years of my law practice, and feel disinclined to complain.

We are heading to Tucson to visit my wife's stepmother. We enjoy this nearly-annual trip. I like seeing the Cactus Wren and the Vermillion Flycatcher. At home, my Collin County bird count is at 66 species so far this year, which is a good pace.

My Weight Watchers meeting in McKinney shut down. I now attend a new meeting in Plano, with a coach who was my coach for many years.
I will easily adjust to this change. I've been a lifetime member for years, after losing and keeping off 90 pounds.

I miss all the people I know via social media, as I feel less connected. I started as Mastodon account and reduced my Twitter usage. I like Mastodon, but it's been a slower process adding contacts on that service. I've been playing a lot of chess at chess.com. I want to play some live chess at a tournament in the coming months. My openings have gotten simpler over the years---the Stonewall Attack, the Scandinavian, the Hippopotamus system, and entering the Dutch Stonewall from the triangle Slav defense. On-line, amateur players today play disproportionate dollops of the London System and the Englund Gambit. I have figured out good systems against each, though sometimes i forget the Englund Gambit refutation in the middle of a game.

We enjoyed the movie The Lost King, and then reading about both sides of the story of how credit was given and to whom in connection wit the exhumation of Richard III. I like watching Sally Hawkins perform.

I believe this interval from November to February 1 marks my longest space between posts on my weblog. The pause was less a matter of intent and more a matter of no matter at all.

I did not chronicle some work challenges in November. I missed writing about our December holiday visit to Kansas City, where I got a cold that kept me from some of the best things in the visit.

My birding for 2022 in my local county reached a lesser figure than usual--the count stopped at 94 rather than over 100. This year I am at 53 after January.

I launched a Mastodon account, gurdonark@noc.social. I like searching Mastodon for interesting nature images. It will take a long time to have as many followers as on Twitter.

We had a nice visit with our niece. We had a great Thanksgiving Dinner with our nephew and his significant other. We joined my brother's family for Christmas Eve dinner at the restaurant called Texas.

This week a huge freeze and ice storm has kept me working from home Tuesday and Wednesday. Sparrow sleeps in his chair while I work. My wife works in her office.

I was going to Savannah, Georgia for a conference today, but the ice put paid to that. I will attend at least part of it virtually, assuming the tech works out.

I finally finished Wil McCarthy's novel "The Wellstone" after reading it on and off for months. I rarely encounter a novel that I both like and yet find to be a long read. Now I am working on Edward Thomas' In Pursuit of Spring.

Sparrow graduated from Advanced Obedience. He learns new things every week.

The weather turned from late-Summery Autumn to pre-wintry Autumn. I saw my first Dark-Eyed Juncos of the season. My wife worked at work so far this week after weeks of working from home. We planned some time off just after the Christmas holiday.

I've been following the mid-term elections with interest and a bit of relief that no "red wave" materialized. My niece had good success selling a few geckos at a sales convention in Springfield, Missouri. She said it was a great learning experience.

Since I last posted, we took a long weekend in Broken Bow, Oklahoma. We rented a very luxurious cabin in the woods. We hiked in the Little River national wildlife reserve, but did not see many birds. We hiked Beavers Bend State Park. Unfortunately, on the Cedar Bluff Trail, my wife had a fall. She had a mild fracture in her ankle which is some weeks later now well on the mend. That short hike was a mix of great sights from atop the bluffs to finding a makeshift branch to use as a help in getting her down the trail. Fortunately, that trail is short and not strenuous The fall was due to a protruding root or rock.

We hosted our 17 year old niece from Missouri. We had a great time with her. She and my wife baked a red velvet cake.

Last weekend my sister came down to visit from Oklahoma. We met at my brother's house and ate chili for lunch. We had a nice visit. She had to fly out for a business meeting in New Jersey, but our 25 year old niece stayed the night at our house. She educated me on her hobby of raising geckos. This weekend she is going to offer some for sale at some kind of gecko convention.

Sparrow, now a graduate of Obedience School Level 2, has advanced to Advanced Obedient. He is good at the commands, though he has a new hobby of demanding training practice.

Work has been very busy lately.

I have been following the mid-term elections and the war overseas in Ukraine in the news.

Over a month passed. I turned 63 on August 12. Work proved very busy. My Collin County bird count reached 91, as I saw some warblers and shorebirds migrating. I've been less active playing chess. I try to solve the Wordle each day, but succeed only 95 percent of the time.

The passing of Queen Elizabeth II inspired far more media coverage in this country than I would have predicted. I am not anti-Elizabeth-II but I do view the English monarchy as an interesting institution but not one requiring as much media attention here.

I plan to get some interesting hiking in this weekend.

The heat resumed in the first week of August. In the weekend I walked in the Heard Natural Science Center. The temporal wetlands turned dry in the heat, as often happens during hot Summers. I saw a lot of species, but no new additions to my Collin County county of 86. I had 86 in 2020, though, and reached my goal of 100. We'll see how this year goes.

August birding in our area tends to be a bit less species-rich. For the past three years, I have hit the count figure in my county of 42 species. This year I will see if I can eclipse that meaning-of-life figure.

Sparrow continues to learn new commands in dog training. Right now we are working on "paws up," a trick in which he places a pawn or paws on a raised small item. I took him for a walk this morning. He enjoyed saying hello to the somewhat shy poodle/something mix. Sparrow believes that every dog in the work should be his friend, but his belief is not particularly contagious among other dogs he meets.

We finished watching Season 3 of The Orville, which was a fine season indeed. We also watched the latest Dr. Strange movie, with Elizabeth Olsen giving a fine performance as the Scarlet Witch.

I've been watching the games in the Chess Olympiad in Chennai. In addition to the US team, I've been following the Jersey men's and women's teams and the Swedish women's team. The stories of the Olympiad are those of 16-year-old Indian Grandmaster Gukesh D, who went on a long 9-game winning streak against top competition and Polish WIM Oliwia Kiolbasa, who won 9 in a row. Social media hovered over the difference in the two achievements, given that Gukesh played stronger competition, but I believe both achieved a lot.

My own chess play Sunday raised my rating 40 points, after a few tournaments with declining ratings. We'll see if I can get my blitz chess rating as high as I hope.

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gurdonark

Gurdonark

June 2024

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Robert's Journal

Recent Entries

Indigo on the Prairie

Aldaspeak

Al Stewart Friday

Change of Weather

Paging Spencer Atwill

Glowing BIcycle

Dog-like Scholarly Ambition

Cold weather

Catching up including Montana

Summer of 42

A passing

A brief note about Thursday

by the light of the moon

Tales of Agility and Refurbished Things

changes (turn and face the strange)

Catching Up

Marketing Geckos

parks and nieces

A bit Tardy

More than 42