A wide-eyed Samwise in the summer of 2009 does some squirrel watching from the top of the cat tree.
Month: September 2020
Brown Beauty in the Green
One of the areas I knew I would miss most when leaving Oregon was the Columbia River Gorge, a lush area of forest and waterfalls just half an hour’s drive from our urban Portland neighborhood. I usually went to Ridgefield when I wanted wildlife and the Gorge when I wanted trees and streams, but sometimes the Gorge had its own animals to share. This little beauty hidden below the dense undergrowth along the Horsetail Falls Trail is (I think) a red-legged frog, taken in the fall of 2011. Easily one of my favorite trails anywhere, I didn’t get to go late in our time in Oregon as it closed after devastating fires, but if I ever make it back it will be high on my list of places to visit.
An ant is starting to walk onto the frog in the picture below.
Cat Tree, I Love You
After we got out first cat tree in 2009, it took Emma a little while to try it but once she did, she fell in love. I found her in the afternoon hugging the tree, even if it was just the way she was sleeping it does reflect her feelings for what became a favorite hangout. In the second picture she looked back through the big picture window and her face was lit by the afternoon light.
Shoo Fly
While I don’t have a phobia about insects and in fact enjoy photographing them, I don’t like the feel of them walking on my skin. I’ve tried to work on it over the years, especially when it’s an insect that won’t harm me, such as this visit to the Oregon coast when flies swarmed around but didn’t bite. I felt for this harbor seal who was getting hounded much worse, they even walked across its eyeballs. It raised a flipper to shoo them off but they didn’t stay away long.
Herons Before Hedgehogs
New Year’s Day in 2011 dawned with frost covering the grasses around Horse Lake, where I met this juvenile heron beside the auto tour at Ridgefield. During the winter I brought extra coats to drape over my legs so I could sit in the cold and watch and listen to the wildlife around me. On this occasion though a string of running cars soon pulled up behind, including my arch-nemesis the diesel pickup truck with its bone rattling engine, so I started up the car and continued on. A few hours later as I prepared for another loop around I saw a long line of cars stretched into the distance and decided to call it a day. Which was wonderful in its own right as I took Ellie for an extra walk and then we played with her hedgehogs in the backyard before heading inside to snuggle up with the cats. Wildlife watching, playing with the pets, my little slice of heaven and a lovely start to the year.
The Biggest Bathtub
A black oystercatcher splashes the waters of the Pacific through its feathers as waves lap at the beach at Seal Rock. Taken in the spring of 2005.
Life Finds a Way
Deadlines
“You want the what by when now?”
Templeton working under a deadline in the spring of 2005 during his supervised outside time. He was actually doing what he always did, stealing my spot when I got up. I think I was prepping an older laptop to give to a friend as I had moved onto a 15″ PowerBook a year prior, but the old gray cells are a bit fuzzy on this one.
Welcome to the Jungle
If it feels like an eternity since I last went hiking it isn’t too far from the truth, but at least since I’ve been able to work at home a few days this week I was able one evening to go to a nearby park for a quick one mile hike with my wife. Nobody on the trail but us, perhaps not surprising given it was a weekday and near sunset the heat hovered around 100 degrees. I’ve always liked when I get a glimpse of my car through the trees on the way back from a hike, this time I even remembered to take a picture.
Logs in the Marsh
I found a log floating in a marsh in South Carolina with the most wondrous patterns and textures. I don’t know what kind of tree it came from but I’d guess its bite is worse than its bark.
