I woke up this morning and drove an hour to Lake Ray Roberts State Park, Johnson Branch, to go on a bird walk. The walk worked out well, as the cold gave way to pleasant weather. The highlight was a male Northern Harrier. We saw him twice. The second time, he was giving chase to a Killdeer. I know a raptor's gotta eat, but I was glad the Killdeer pulled away. I also liked the Forster's Tern.
I liked the two chihuahuas and the pit bull that two park visitors had. The pit bull had never been to a park before, so he enjoyed it when I petted him. The owners told the story of being in their boat with their chihuahua when another boat floated up, said "you look like you're doing well with your chihuahua" and the gave them another chihuahua. In line with their story, these were very well-behaved chihuahuas.
After the bird walk ended at 10 a.m., I meandered onto a rural highway. There I saw lots of open-space loving birds. A female Northern Harrier stood on a fence post. A Loggerhead Shrike flew from a tree to a power wire. An Eastern Bluebird posed as if it were a model. As I followed the little rural road, it pulled up to a town park, David's Park, for the very small town of Valley View, in Cooke County, Texas. I walked in this park, which I had to myself.
I saw lots of sparrows, Cedar Waxwings, and a fair number of other birds.
I drove to Denny's in Denton, after some indecision. I had egg whites, turkey bacon, a slice of ham and a fruit cup. I drove home, listening to a program on Hacker Public Radio podcast of Richard Stallman describing his various theories of free software. I was intrigued that he licensed his speech Creative Commons, but put in the license a "no derivatives" limitation. It was fine with me, though there goes my chance to make an electro track with his speech as the found sound. I also listened to opera on the radio, an interesting performance of "Lulu" by Alban Berg. Twelve-tone music interests me.
I got home and took Beatrice for a walk. The afternoon weather was heavenly. My wife was out with her friend Donna at a fund-raiser in Plano for the local Democratic Party. Beatrice enjoyed her time outdoors.
I processed my photos, and then taught myself a computer solitaire game. I usually play Klondike, the old-fashioned solitaire. But I set the program to play Seawall, and read the instructions. Between the instructions, trial and error and use of the hints button, I sorted out the strategy.
I also cleaned up the back yard to make it more presentable, and then picked up my dress shirts at the dry cleaners. I got in another burst of walking at Green Park, crossing my 10,000 steps. My wife and I went to eat at San Miguel, where she had a fish done Vera Cruz style, while I had cheese enchiladas. Now I am ready to rest on Saturday night.