Month: April 2017

The Home Stretch

Our cat Sam stretches out on the cat tree

I had to laugh when I saw Sam sleeping all stretched out on the cat tree, of the six cats we’ve had only the tidy Scout would be less likely to sleep like this. Sam generally prefers to sleep curled up so I don’t know how he ended up in this position, he had been sleeping up there alone so he had the entire space to himself.

Urban Wildlife

A sculpture of a frog playing the banjo in a garden

One downside to living in an urban neighborhood is that I don’t see much wildlife near the house. But perhaps I just haven’t been looking closely enough, as while walking Ellie I noticed a frog, a bird, and some rabbits, all within a block of each other.

A colorful sculpture of a bird in a garden

They were clearly accustomed to not only humans but also dogs, as they didn’t seem to be bothered by either my presence or the faithful pup waiting beside me.

Rabbit decorations in a yard

My Kicks

My orange New Balance running shoes

We had a sunny day on Friday so while I was taking pictures on the way home from work, I took a quick picture of my favorite pair of shoes, orange New Balance trail runners that are coming out of winter hibernation and returning to the regular rotation. I picked them up a couple of years ago after I returned to commuting by train and wanted to be more visible as I walk to and from the station or around town. The sun was low in the sky when I took the picture, and I in shade, but you can get a glimpse of how visible they are in low contrast light that causes human vision to stumble. I love everything about the shoes and should have bought a handful when I realized how much I liked them so I could store them in the closet and have a supply for years to come.

I was walking Ellie a couple of weeks ago on one of her long morning weekend walks when I felt the sole break in my other favorite pair of shoes, a black pair of New Balance trail runners from four years ago (a different style), finally succumbing after years of steady use. I stepped carefully for the rest of the walk and thankfully they held together enough that I didn’t have to cut her walk short. I sadly placed them in the trashcan when we got home, thankful for the years of use, they started out as shoes for summer hiking but I loved them so much they became one of my main shoes until they started to show signs of wear and were relegated to dog walking the past year or so.

Through These Flooded Fields

A Columbian white-tailed deer fawn walks through a flooded field

The water levels at Ridgefield National Wildlife Refuge are managed to mimic the seasonal flooding from the Columbia River in the days before the dams. But this flooded field comes courtesy of an unusually wet winter, even for the Pacific Northwest. The fawn is a Columbian whitetail, born to one of the does that was transplanted in the third wave of relocations.

Made for Trixie

Our cat Trixie looks out from the cat tree in the evening light on April 1, 2017. Original: _DSC3873.ARW

When we first got this cat tree, I thought the cats would only use the middle platform as a place to jump to the top, as it isn’t very tall. But it turns out to be perfectly Trixie sized, so she often hangs out here to watch the birds and squirrels in the backyard.

Winter Destinations

Our black-and-white cat Boo rests on the wooden heating vent

I wanted a quick test of my new Sony Zeiss 55mm f1.8 lens so I visited a popular winter destination in our area, the wooden heater vent in our living room. Boo was enjoying warm air blowing on his belly but when he got up to greet me he was immediately replaced by its most frequent guest, Trixie, who is usually sleeping here when I come home from work.

Our tortoiseshell cat Trixie rests on the wooden heating vent