Monday September 11, 2006 5:20 am Lethbridge Sunrise 7:01 Sunset 19:55 Hours of daylight: 12:54

A. Morning Musings

5:20 am It is + 8 C and clear. The forecast high is 29 C.

I am feeling fresh and alert this morning. I think that I have recovered from our trip - yesterday I was sluggish and not very energetic.

From rear window	South patio
Both images taken at 12:55 PM

It is still taking me a while to get used to getting up while it is still dark outside. That will be the norm for another 6 months or so. Now for a fresh cuppa and a puzzle.

The coffee is great but I am having difficulty with the puzzle. It involves joining dots according to a number of rules and I have just realized that I have made an unwarranted assumption and need to start over (not an easy task as I was using ink). I moved on and have solved puzzle #4. I made a second attempt at #3 and again made a mistake and had to look at the answer. My score at the moment is 3 right and 1 wrong.

I will have my regular coffee with Frank at 8 am. It is beginning to feel that I am getting back into my routine.

B. Plan

Immediate
Health	Walk & exercise	1 hr
Puzzles	The Orange Puzzle Cube: puzzle #3
History	Continue reading "Citizens"	1 hr
Mathematics	Read "The Computational Beauty of Nature" Chap 3	1 hr
Literature	Continue reading "All the Men Are Sleeping"	1 hr
	Read "In Praise of Folly" by Erasmus	1 hr
	Read "The Art of Living" by Epictetus	1 hr
	Read "The Song of Roland"	1 hr
Science	Read "Science and the Akashic Field" by Ervin Laszlo	1 hr
Later
Chores	Investigate water softeners for home	1 hr
Technology	Read manual for cell phone	1 hr
	add keywords to iPhoto records
	Make notes for chap. 4 of "Switching to the Mac"	2 hr
	Begin reading "iPhoto"	1 hr
	digital photography - learn about using the various manual settings
	Use Dreamweaver to create an XML data file for north american birds
Mathematics	Larson "Calculus"
	Gardner "The Colossal Book of Short Puzzles"
History	Watson "Ideas"
Model Trains	Build oil refinery diorama: add ground cover
	Add blue backdrop to layout
	Assemble second oil platform kit
	Redraw diagram for Lower Mainline control panel
	Wire Lower Mainline turnouts
Birds	Create a North American web site for birds seen

C. Actual/Notes

1:00 PM I remembered to take my two "weather" photos at noonish. The morning was spent handling a variety of chores related to various government departments but the end result was satisfying as I seem to everything in order at the moment. Now to turn my head toward Learning activities. My top priority is Health. Thus it is time for a walk in the coulee. ...

Not all bird watching ventures see birds. Here are 4 images of the walk in the coulee (during the early afternoon of a spectacular fall day), none of which have a bird in them. In fact, I failed to see a single bird on this walk. But the walk was gorgeous, with the sun shining on the yellow grass and with just a hint of yellow on a few of the trees. On days like this I realize how very fortunate I am to be able to walk from my front door to the coulee (10 minutes), then journey along the coulee (40 minutes) and then return home (10 minutes).

7:55 PM I have just finished reading a few more short stories from D. R. MacDonald's "All the Men Are Sleeping". I love his writing! It reminds me of Cormac Macarthy - very harsh and masculine. Yet he also slips in some beautiful sentences about the land and the sea. I will keep my eyes open for anything else by him.

I am slowly getting back the rhythm of reading for Learning. Today I began a short science book on information and the connectedness of the universe. But the days are still full of regular life activities: today it was a short visit to the dentist, another short visit to sort out some income tax details, a phone call to find out more about an estate settlement, setting up an appointment for the car and a meeting to clarify my pension fund details; tomorrow it will be car maintenance, dentist and an evening meeting with the model train group. It is hard to fit Learning into this mix.

D. Reflection