I am politically woke, but not awake, as I trudge from the bed to the sliding door to let two of three dogs out. Yep, I let the dogs out. Who? Who? As an aside, Baha Men are booked for the Atlantis Bahamas Wine and Food Festival on March 13, 2025. Their smash hit was released 25 years ago.

To the kitchen, I start the K-cup diffusion/infusion machine. Give the cats – Sweetie and Skylar – some wet food from a can. Walk back to the sliding door. Checking to see if the dogs were back from their romp. They weren’t.

There is a rabbit that resides in the ¼ acre dog pen. It is just a matter of time before the dogs catch the rabbit or not. A couple of years back they caught a small rabbit in the garden. It was not pretty. They are more apt to chase a squirrel up a tree, send a deer over the fence, or dig up peanuts buried by the squirrels. They are sister Chiweenies, Carrie and Mattie.

Coffee ready, I walk to and from the K-cup temple to the sliding door. Let the dogs in. Sit on the couch. Sip my first cup of coffee. Grab the iPad. Check both email accounts. Open Facebook looking for any “like” or “love” notifications that validate my Earth parking, aka life. Check Substack to see if 100 people looked at my recent post or any new subscribers joining the journey. Ha, as if!

On Substack, I read Heather Cox Richardson’s Letters from an American, as it provides just the facts, Dano. She has some 2.2 million subscribers. Her focus is the contrast “between image and reality in American politics.” I am reading her 2020 book, How The South Won The Civil War. It pairs nicely with my recent read of Daniel Walker Howe’s What Hath God Wrought: The Transformation of America, 1815 – 1848.

I also stop by Jim Brown’s A Friendly Nudge. He has 15,000 subscribers. I appreciate his notes/short videos on coping with growing old, with a focus on exercise and eating. The unabashed exercises on the kitchen floor or in the hallway are my favorites. I never do them.

Meanwhile, Carrie Chiweenie has been chewing/sucking on a stuffed-bear head with her eyes closed. It is all that remains from the dismembered toy bear left behind by sister Labs that preceded the current crew. After she aligns her chakras, body and soul, she will jump on the couch next to me. It is the signal to serve breakfast.

I walk to the “cat kitchen” located in the repurposed on-suite that came with the house. Not sure if it should be the dog-cat kitchen but heck I watch my Smart television these days in the “DVD Room.” I haven’t watched a DVD in a decade or so.

Dog three, Genie, a Brussel Griffon, joins the pack for dog breakfast. She is the senior link to all the dogs that came before. The eating routine is followed by a walk to and around the dog pen. I am hoping for the dogs to take care of business. They are hoping for walking treats or a squirrel.

Back in the house, I am at the K-cup coffee dispenser for cup number two. Take two Ibuprofen for arthritis with hopes of kicking a hip replacement down the road. More recently, upon the recommendation of my woman friend, I have been taking, if I remember, 1500 mg turmeric capsules, two a day and literally hard to swallow. They supposedly help with joint inflammation and learning how to spell osteoarthritis.

Cats, dogs, coffee, internet, drugs. I am ready. And then, and only then, I fire up the computer in the home office. I check my Apple watch. I have taken 598 steps or travelled 0.24 miles, with a spelling assist on the tenth miles from The Chicago Manual of Style.

My mornings these DOGE days are television free. I spend more time with meandering research and writing, trying to fill in the dark holes in my knowledge and understanding. I also find myself more interested in how far I travel each day. A good day is 10,000-plus steps. For many decades, I lived by the clock. Sometimes down to the second.

How are your mornings in these days of DOGE? Are you pro steps or clock?

Meanderings:

https://heathercoxrichardson.substack.com

https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/52048467-how-the-south-won-the-civil-war

https://doable.substack.com/notes

FAQ Item @ The Chicago Manual of Style online

The Italicization of Names like Facebook | MLA Style Center

Bing AI Generator with prompt = traveler following step-by-step directions through the universe