Nov 22, 2010

Opposites Attract

Hope and Allie
There can't be 2 more different dogs--yet they get along surprisingly well. Hope doesn't care much for the company of other dogs, but she does like my Mom's dog, Allie.
She even tolerates Allie being around when she is eating. Hope is extremely possessive of her food and much to my embarrassment, has made that clear to just about every dog in our extended family.

Hope is the alpha dog of our animal family. She is the older, wiser, aloof one--respected and a little feared by the other dogs when we all get together.
Allie, on the other hand is the alpha dog of the people in our family. She basically has us all under her fuzzy little paw. She will stare at you with those piercing eyes and you will find yourself petting her even when you would rather be reading or sleeping.
I suspect that in another life she was a dictator of a small country. A benevolent, shaggy-haired dictator, but definitely the one in charge.
She has some eerily human characteristics as can be seen in Exhibits A through C below.




Exhibit A: This is not a posed picture, she actually sleeps with her head on the pillow.



Exhibit B: Dogs don't usually use armrests, do they?



Exhibit C: Ok, this is redundant, but just look at her. Pure cuteness.

She is a real character. She has enriched my Mom's life as much as my Mom has enriched hers.






Nov 20, 2010

Such as they are (Yosemite Part 2)




The Mariposa Grove of giant sequoias in Yosemite National Park.
These pictures do not do them justice.
Are they one of the Seven Wonders? If not, they should be.


Nov 18, 2010

The Dragon Slayer

Correction: The Dragon Cuddler
(I know it's an iguana, but that just doesn't have the same ring to it.)

Nov 17, 2010

Yosemite (Part 1)


















I remember walking around Yosemite wondering why I was even trying to take pictures. There was no way I could capture the beauty of it. Surprisingly, the pictures (all 173 of them) turned out pretty good. It is a place that, quite literally, takes your breath away. Everywhere you turn is a photo opportunity. I am so grateful that I got to see it.
On the way home, we stopped at the Mariposa grove of giant redwoods and I most definitely could not even come close to capturing that in photographs. Amazing.

Nov 8, 2010

Sand Study





The first 3 pictures are from my recent trip to the moon.
The last two are from Pawleys Island, South Carolina.

Nov 5, 2010

Nov 4, 2010

Slow and Steady



I'm not sure why I like turtles but I don't like snakes.  Turtles are sort of like snakes with a pretty shell.  And legs.  And cute flipper arms. Ok, I guess they are not that alike afterall.
Turtles always make me think of my sister.  She will stop her car to help a turtle across the road.  Ah, yet another way turtles and snakes differ--my sister would NEVER stop her car to help a snake across the road.