Boolie

A Year of Boo

It was one year ago today that we adopted a seven-month old black-and-white kitten named Bronco from the Oregon Humane Society. We renamed the shy little fellow Boo and slowly introduced him to the other pets over the course of a month. He was so terrified when we first met that he shook like a leaf, so it’s been fun to see him become a part of our family. On this afternoon in April, he and Sam snuggled up together on my legs.

My allergies flared up unexpectedly this spring so I spent much of my time the past few months relaxing with the pets draped on me, rather than writing or editing pictures. An unproductive time but not an altogether unpleasant one.

Did Someone Order a Box of Boo?

If you’re a very important customer, Amazon sends you a free cat bed with nearly every order.

The Return of the Snuggle Fiend

Our cat Sam is framed by his arms as he curls up in my lap on April 5, 2014. Original: _MG_8005.CR2

Sam used to spend his days either curled up in my lap or in the heated bed beside our cat Scout, but her death over a year ago was pretty hard on him. At first he snuggled with me more than ever but then started spending much of his time on his own. Gradually he returned to me more and more and now can usually be found curled up in my lap, and at night follows me up to bed.

📷: Canon M | Canon 22mm
🗓️: April 5, 2014

Make That Two

Yesterday my wife decided it was time to replace her aging car, so today we went down to the Subaru dealer and brought home this lovely XV Crosstrek. It will be a good match to my car, which not coincidentally is also a Crosstrek. You might say we’re very fond of these little Subarus.

Room with a View

While hiking the Storm Point Trail I met this yellow-bellied marmot sitting on a rocky cliff overlooking Yellowstone Lake.

The Living Rock

Late in September of 2008, I was hiking for the first time in the Sunrise portion of Mount Rainier National Park. It was cold and pouring rain but it was the start of a week of hiking and I was in a good mood. As I came across a talus field I noticed an unusual rock at the edge of the path. But when my rock moved as I approached I realized I had just seen my first hoary marmot.

My camera didn’t have any weather sealing and a previous accident had left a gaping hole at the top of the camera, but I couldn’t resist a few pictures.

Closed for Swimming

Animals look ferocious when they yawn, some more than others. Huntington Beach is a popular place to swim in South Carolina, but you’re restricted to the ocean and not the freshwater areas. It’s not too hard to figure out why …

Furry Ears

A close-up view of the face of a female bison, part of a herd near the road in Mormon Row in Grand Teton National Park.

Yellow Patches

A yellow-rumped warbler (Audubon’s) shows off many of his yellow patches (but not the one for which he is named). His patches weren’t very colorful, not sure if it was due to age, diet, or something else. He was visiting the suet feeder in my backyard along with some of our more typical winter visitors, I took the picture from inside my office with the window open (and screen removed).

A Muddy Beak

I didn’t have much exposure to great blue herons before I moved to Oregon years ago, but the ones I had seen hunted in bodies of water, so I was rather surprised when I moved here and saw herons frequently hunting on land. This young heron, as you can see from its muddy beak, was hunting for voles in a meadow. There’s a little bit of blood at the base of its beak, I’m not sure if it’s from the heron or one of its victims.