Me & the Samwise

A black-and-white picture of our cat Sam snuggled in my lap with his head up and eyes wide open in April 2020

When I get home from work Sam starts giving me the business if I don’t settle down on the couch quickly enough for his liking, as he is waiting to jump into my lap and start purring to beat the band. There are lap cats, and there is Samwise.

One Year

Our dog Ellie looks off camera as she stands in the dog park of Irving Park with a flowering tree behind her, taken in the Irvington neighborhood of Portland, Oregon in April 2017

Oh pup. It’s been one year since we had to say goodbye to Ellie, a year where I still miss her rather intently at times, not unexpected given the strength of the bond that formed over her long life. The picture is three years old, taken near the start of our morning walk on a lovely spring morning when we still had a year left in Portland and two years with her. She was such a comfort in difficult times, our time together was such a blessing.

Winter Bright

A male phainopepla perches in a tree early on a winter morning on the Marcus Landslide Trail in McDowell Sonoran Preserve in Scottsdale, Arizona in December 2019

Our winter skies are brightened by the dark forms of phainopepla, I love walking down the trails and hearing their quiet voices from the other side of trees. This one is from an early December morning on the Marcus Landslide Trail, I haven’t been hiking in about six weeks (!!!), partially from wanting to minimize exposure to others and partially from being exhausted. I’d like to try some of the wider and less popular trails as it would be beneficial mentally and physically but we’ll see how tomorrow goes. So far the weekend has been a lot of curling up for naps with the cats before yard work in the evenings.