Keeping a journal/sketchbook was an essential practice and creative endeavor, although sketching and journaling was never a continued daily practice for more than one month at a time. 
However during the Covid crisis, Dale kept a daily journal for 486 days, recording weather conditions as well as observations and drawings from his daily walks with his wife Caroline, in the numerous parks of Jefferson and Keosauqua Counties in Iowa, recounting and drawing observations and experiences.