Walking Continues

A dog reflects the family life.  Whoever saw a frisky dog in a gloomy family,  or a sad dog in a happy one?  Snarling people have snarling dogs,  dangerous people have dangerous ones. ~  Arthur Conan Doyle,  The Case-Book of Sherlock Holmes Zelda She arrived about 10 years ago. My beloved Labradors had died* and I was heartbroken. While it took some time,  I eventually went to the pound and speed dated all the dogs available, this girl spoke to my heart. Most of the individual runs were occupied by pit bulls or pit bull crosses.** I walked up and down the length of the kennel proper and stopped at one of the strangest dogs I've ever seen. She was as far away as she could get from the gate and hunched over. She had the saddest face. When called she hesitated before coming over to the gate. All the other dogs were barking, but not her (and she did not bark for three months after we got her home). Her orange and cream colored coat was wiry except for a so...

Broken, but unbowed - it took a hit during tornadoes of 2 years ago. This is a tree that supports so much birdlife. It begged for a photo in the early morning light. Happiness, not in another place but in this place... Not for another hour, but this hour. ~ Walt Whitman The pond was waiting for us today after a quick to the store for avocados and such - improving my diet and state of mind was my motivation for the morning. A couple of birders were already at the ponds and I stopped to see what they had found. We discussed the richness of this short stretch of road. They also directed me to the precise area where they had seen the Vermilion Flycatcher.*  I shared some of the experience from last year's CBC to support their observations (including what seemed like a ridiculous number of Black-bellied Whistling Ducks).  I do love birders - they are so enthusiastic and generous with information. I'm glad to be part of the birding community.  These birders were visiting the po...