The Daily Parker

We've got a day and a half of autumn left in Chicago. Here's what I'm reading on a lazy Sunday:

• Chicago's North Pond in Lincoln Park needs $7m in restoration work which it may not get next year.
• The Washington Post recaps the 20-day clown show of the president refusing to accept the results of the election.
• Will Wilkinson tries to sort out why so many people voted for him.
• Erika Christakis looks at how Covid-19 illuminated existing problems with the way we educate children.

And finally, new research shows that the pyroclastic flows from Vesuvius in 79 CE turned people's brains to glass. Yummy.

The Apollo Chorus has a concert tonight (register here; you can watch any time before Christmas), so I'm getting this out a little late.

One problem with having a puppy, like Parker here at 9 months: action shots get more difficult (10 March 2007).

See that turquoise blanket he's on? I've only just thrown it out. I'm not even going to describe its condition after 13 years of a dog sleeping on it. (18 February 2007)

After 312 days in a row exceeding 10,000 steps, yesterday I fell asleep after dinner with only 9,624 on my Veno. I even did a 5.7-kilometer walk around my neighborhood. Oops.

In a way, though, I'm a little relieved. Maybe I can be a bit lazy for a couple of days before starting another streak of 300+ days?

While 2020 hasn't given us a lot to be thankful for overall, I am thankful that I got to spend 14 years and 2 months with Parker. He was simply the best dog on the planet, and he lived a long and happy life.

Parker at Bardwell Park, Evanston, Ill., 18 February 2007.

Getting my bête noir to pose for photos always challenged my patience and photography skills. This is his 3rd birthday portrait, 16 June 2009:

Parker often couldn't quite decide what parts of his body should hang off his bed when he wanted to stretch out, making this a fairly common scene (14 October 2008):

He seemed comfortable enough, though.

An outtake from Parker's 6th birthday photo shoot, 16 June 2012:

I would be remiss not to mention that today is the 50th anniversary of Tea for the Tillerman, Cat Stevens' best and most popular album. It's also one of my favorites.

Cover art by A&M Records (US), Fair use, Link

To thoroughly depress you, SMBC starts the week by showing you appropriate wine pairings for your anxiety. In similar news:

• Illinois House Speaker Michael Madigan (D-Chicago) seeks a 19th term as Speaker, but new Federal indictments and that people voted against Democrats statewide because they don't want him around anymore have made his bid unlikely.
• Vermont and South Dakota have similar demographics and both have Republican governors, so how did Vermont keep Covid-19 infections low while South Dakota didn't? Hmmm, could it be what kind of Republican governors they have?
• The Tribune describes the ghost town of Singapore, Mich., that vanished in the 1870s.

Time to take a walk.