Posts from the ‘Pets’ category

In everything, give thanks.

Snow or ice or frost??? – a little of all three, I believe. Karl and I dawdled on this noon time walk yesterday. The sun was warm in spite of the frosty-snowy ground. The low southern sun lit the weeds and grasses, turning them gold.

…and the yard looks more like early evening in late summer than a late fall afternoon…

1 Thessalonians 5:16-19
Be joyful always; pray continually; give thanks in all circumstances, for this is God’s will for you in Jesus Christ.

…or to quote Father Tim from Jan Karon’s “In His Mountain”:

In everything, give thanks.

Happy Thanksgiving to all. May we all remember to hold close those we love and to be thankful for all that we have today.

Whitefish Dog play

An impromptu afternoon appointment in Whitefish yesterday gave Karl and me the opportunity to walk and play at the soccer field complex afterward. It used to be open fields with enough tracks and trails to make walking easy – now, it is soccer fields and housing but there are still a number of open spots and lots of walk paths. We had the good fortune to arrive just as golden retriever, Jules, arrived with her person, Susie. Introductions of all were made, Jules and Karl played a bit and then settled into the business of walking. As we returned to the parking area, they decided it was serious play time.

Jules sets things up by lying low…

The chase is on – Happy dogs!

They had a rousing game of chase you, chase me, jump, bump and wrestle while Susie and I watched, laughed and enjoyed the sunshine and mountain backdrop.

Ski trails above are Big Mountain ski resort. Below, the mountains of Glacier National Park covered with heavy snow are visible through the “V”.

Rainy day Monday

Another gray day, making for not much “easy” in the way of photo taking…that, and I’ve been mostly “nose to the grindstone” with my day job…

But as I was working late morning, some movement out the window caught my eye…

And a friend of hers was munching away in the side yard…

Bob kept an eye out…

Karl was with me saying “Please, Mom, I don’t feel like chasing deer”. He generally doesn’t like them close to the house and will convince them to move into the woods where he’ll stand and look threatening until he’s sure they will not venture back. But on occasion, I’ve seen him pointedly ignore them, as if he’s tired of the whole thing. Not the rare bucks, but the does which are abundant, will often not move unless you get seriously close to them. Then they bound effortlessly away. I can understand his frustration.

The golden glow of the ground is not just dying grass… some of the gold is the larch needles that have fallen. The trees are looking a bit sparse, some already bare. There is some color left, but between the sparsely leaved and needled trees, the gray skies and clouded in mountain tops, Karl and I in our hunter orange were as colorful as anything!

Rainy day Monday.

About Bob

Bob has been a part of my family for a little over 7 years. According to the vet’s best approximation, he was about 3 at the time he joined Karl, Gus (another cat) and I, making him 10ish now. Bob came with his name and a few other idiosyncracies… Bob loves bubbles – well, I think he loves bubbles, he likes to pop them.

As many cats do, Bob likes fresh, running water. At the start, he would come running when I ran water in the bathroom sink, hop up and get a drink from the faucet. Then he started going in the bathroom whenever I was in the vicinity and waiting for me to turn on water. One day, I filled the sink for something and as it was filling, he started chittering – that chitter that cats do when they see a bird, squirrel or some other critter that excites them for the hunt. He was chittering at the bubbles and as one came near, he popped it with his nose. As a well trained human, I started filling the sink on demand…

…no more bubbles…

And lest you think this is not a serious interest, the following photos were taken February 6, 2007 and the “bubble water” is snow melt…

On the hunt…

…the elusive ripple and potential bubble!

The weather currently and according to the forecast, for the forseeable future, is looking about like the above minus the snow, i.e. gray, damp, rainy, foggy – not extremely cold or we would be getting snow (preferable!!!) instead of rain. Bob’s new thing on these dampish days is hanging out under the dryer vent if the dryer is running. And for the record, when I took these photos, yesterday, there was a fire going in the woodstove and he can go in and out of the house as he chooses – he chose his spot…

Bob.