Saturday I started my day walking young Beatrice. We headed around the pond at 6:45 a.m. Beatrice had her vet follow-up on Friday, which found nothing disturbing. She returns in two weeks for follow-up.
At 7:30 a.m. I mailed my bills out. Then at 8 a.m. I picked up my young friend. After breakfast at McDonald's we headed to Denton. We walked at South Lake Park in Denton,where an Alzheimer's 5K run was concluding as we arrived. We then decided to go to Golden Triangle Mall. This mall proved pleasant enough. A nice fellow in the bookstore Barnes & Noble saw the term GPU on the back of a magazine I was buying. He and I got into a discussion about the gaming desktop computer he built.
We went to a Best Buy as my friend needed a Micro-SD card and a thing to amplify wi-fi signals, but their prices were too high. Though we had come to Denton to
go to the Mad World record store, we decided to have lunch and head to MicroCenter in Richardson.
We dined at Fuddrucker's burger chain restaurant before we headed back east. I had something called a Malibu Vegan Sandwich.The patty of this sandwich was the usual lentil-and-black-bean-and-bits-of-carrot-a
After fighting traffic, we landed at MicroCenter in the early afternoon. There in moments, through helpful clerks, we had what we can for. I forgot to ask about the hybrid hard drive I have been looking into getting. But otherwise it was a near-perfect visit--even at the register, it turned out both of my friend's two purchases were on sale, saving him money he otherwise expected to pay.
We drove to Firewheel Coffee. We ordered drinks and set up our computers. I had an iced green tea with mandarin orange/tangerine flavoring. Firewheel Coffee in Garland is one of those independent coffee shops that feels like an old-fashioned
department store cafe rather than like a 60s folk music venue. It has ample plugs, good wi-fi and good drinks.
After I dropped my friend off, I drove to Brockdale Park. I took pictures of a Forster's Tern standing on a lake pier beam. I saw a flock of Least Sandpipers.Then I walked down Trinity Trail. During my 90 minute round-trip walk, I saw a Nine-Banded Armadillo, Blue Jays, American Robins, a Carolina Chickadee, Great Blue Herons, and a Turkey Vulture.
When I got back to my car, I noticed that Mike Cameron, a birder I've met, had a camera lens the size of a huge ball focused on a small tree. I looked, and saw a flycatcher flitting on the tree. I tried to take pictures of it with my lesser camera lens. Mike came over after a few moments and showed me his picture. He explained that we were seeing an immature Vermillion Flycatcher, a real migration rarity. I was grateful to him for showing me his picture and the Sibley guide entry for this bird.
Saturday night we ate in and I watched the sports team of my alma mater give an earnest but unsuccessful effort. When my favorite team's coach called a poorly-chosen punt fake, I was surprisingly angry, but otherwise it all went fine.
Sunday morning I walked Beatrice at 8 a.m. A Blue Jay had a nut in its beak. Two European Starlings preened atop a tree. The Moon and two planets were large in the sky.
I called the morning news to advise that our Sunday paper had not been delivered, and then headed to Weight Watchers.I was down 5 pounds, but that I was not really down 5 pounds. Last week I was up 3.7 because lots of fluid right before the meeting. I like that I am keeping the weight off, which I accomplish through assiduous tracking of what I eat and exercise.
The Weight Watchers meeting I attend has a good leader--a dynamic,slightly evangelical, retired-teacher-with-too-many-class-pets style. I liked today's meeting because it focused on a tangible thing, the virtue of protein, rather than the other-than-tangible thing, a positive, can-do attitude. I am all for positive thinking and cognitive progress and all sorts of things, but I get wearied of "if you think it you can do it" and other over-simplifications. I am less about the mood enhancers and more about how to figure out things one can eat within the program that taste good.
I went to First UMC Allen for church, where I enjoyed the sermon about doubt, a subject I find more relevant than certainty. I liked the hymns sung during service.
I was going to go to KFC for grilled chicken, but I was kept waiting. So I went to Cici's pizza next door. Then I headed home and rested while sports contests played on television. At 5:30 p.m., I bicycled to Dayspring Nature Preserve. I saw Red Admiral and Hackberry Emperor butterflies. We dined tonight on turkey sandwiches nd capped the evening off with a cup of orange sorbet. Now the television is playing the Judy Garland movie "A Star is Born".