boolie

The Snowy Woods

I wandered alone through the snowy woods, lost in thought, the heavy snow muffling my every footfall. Except these snowy woods were actually my snowy neighborhood. Not so romantic!

I don’t know how much of it is her advancing age and how much the warming weather, but I’ve noticed Ellie’s breathing has been a little more labored lately on her walks. For all that she still gave me a couple of long walks last weekend, but I wasn’t surprised this morning that even though she went as far south as normal after visiting the dog park, she only went a couple of blocks east before wanting to head back north towards home. I thought she was tired out but as we prepared to take the last turn towards home she indicated she wanted to continue going north. The next block she turned east towards home but kept wanting to go east and east and east until I made her turn north to avoid a busy street. We doubled back along Klickitat Street before heading to the park once more, then she was ready to head home, after a full hour and a half walk.

It was still breezy this morning after high winds much of yesterday and my sinuses were bothering me a bit, but what a lovely way to spend the morning, me and the pup!

I took this picture of her on Klickitat, the section of the street we walk on that takes us to the park is closed to vehicle traffic except for people with driveways on the street, and this little post blocks vehicles from entering. Someone put a sticker on the post that says “Root for the Underdog” so I made Ellie pose for a quick picture. The new camera is working a treat for quick pictures like this, just a snapshot to remind me of our walks, it is so lightweight that I take it with me a lot even though I only occasionally take pictures.

You Want Me To Do What Now?

Another picture from when I was first testing out my new camera, I put Sam on the stool for some test shots to make sure the camera was functional. I love the expression on his face as he leaned forward with his ears swiveled in opposite directions, listening both to the cats who were running about on either side of him and me giving him posing directions.

Trixie’s Favorite Pillow

She is not always Sam’s favorite blanket but she is relentless in her desire to snuggle with her older brother.

Number Nine. Number Nine. Number Nine. Number …

Spring Finally Arrives

As much as I love the rain, even I was ready for a sunny day after an unusually wet winter. Although Ellie loves the colder weather, she was up for a long walk on this beautiful spring morning, wanting to go farther and farther each time we reached another corner. I was only too happy to oblige and we didn’t return home for an hour and a half, pretty remarkable for our aging pup.

It’s Not Me, It’s the Cushion

Sam would like me to point out that the cushion is sagging because it’s a bit floppy, not because he has a weight problem. And he’s correct, the vet was very happy with his weight on his last checkup, he’s right in the middle of his target range and so can lose or gain a little weight without worry. Trixie on the other hand they’d like to see put on weight but …

Snowy Siskiyou

I used to think all city neighborhoods were a desert of brick and concrete and asphalt so I was surprised when we first started looking at neighborhoods in Portland to see so many tree-lined streets, such as Siskiyou Street here. I didn’t walk across Siskiyou much in the first seven years we lived here, just occasionally on trips to the store, as it is to our north and the train station for the light rail I take to work is to our south. In the last eight years however I’ve crossed thousands of times, as while it isn’t on the way to the train station, it is on the way to the dog park.

It doesn’t usually look like this though.

Sam in the Warm Light

My daily view, Sam in my lap, although usually in less dramatic lighting.

Sam in the Soft Light

When I saw Sam sleeping on the cat tree in this lovely overcast light I grabbed the new camera (Sony A6500) and a new lens (Sony Zeiss 55mm 1.8) and took one of my favorite pictures of him, a simple portrait in soft light. I’ve admired this lens from afar since it was introduced a few years ago but wasn’t sure I’d use it enough to justify its price. It was both on sale and further discounted with a trade-in special so I decided to give it a go and am glad I did.

The camera also worked out well, I’m holding it over to my side as the TV is where I would have otherwise stood. The little on-board flash can be manually bounced so I used it to subtly fill in some of the shadows near his face that were caused by his body blocking the light. The image stabilization helped out since I was in an unstable position and the live zebras helped me quickly set the exposure to not blow out the back wall, so all that was left was to tap the touchscreen to set the focus on his eyes.