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.

Two walks

A bleak day… but as always, some beauty to be found. From this morning’s walk at the state park on Flathead Lake:

Below are from an afternoon walk at “home”. I believe Karl would title the first: “My mama dresses me funny”.

It is deer (gun) season. And although the land we walk is private and posted “No Hunting”, it is adjacent to 40 acres of state land which is huntable. I choose to be cautious. My personal vanity prohibits showing my own “hunter orange outfit”…I have a “one size fits all” vest made to go over winter jackets. It has been alternately rainy/snowy so I’ve been wearing raingear over fleece. With the gigantic orange vest I look like the great pumpkin in a cowboy hat. I have a felt, waterproof cowboy hat that has ear flaps that fold down for real cold. The thing keeps water off my face AND neck – my ears warm when it is very cold. I’ve had it a number of years so it has a somewhat odd shape at this point… However, vanity aside, I am warm and dry and both Karl and I are visible – which is the point.

to see what we could see

We had to get a bit more creative with our walk location yesterday. The neighbors on our “scenic” route were briefly in residence. It is deer season so I prefer to avoid the adjacent state land. We could have gone to the state park but the sky had cleared between forecast storm fronts and I thought it might be a good day to get what might be the last look at fall color on a sunny day. We went over the hill (my road) which drops down to Echo Lake, a small lake that is beautiful, although a bit crowded and noisy during the summer. This day, though, it was quiet and peaceful. When we arrived there was not even a breeze ruffling the water…

We took the “long way” home and passed by a favorite view of the Swan River…

and the Swan Range with a bit of powdery snow on some of the peaks…

It was an idyllic hour break – I had reached a good point to stop working, the sun was out and we went. Shortly after we returned, things clouded over and the afternoon was gray. All afternoon as I worked I kept thinking how glad I was that we went when we did.

Another bonus last evening – the sky cleared again and the waxing moon lit the old garden area enough for Karl and I to play a bit of soccer by the “light of the silvery moon” …and when we were done, it stayed around long enough for me to take its picture.