Category Archives: Photography

Go Away, Snow…

Posted on April 20, 2015 | Leave a comment

 

According to the calendar it was officially spring last month.  I guess no one told the snow.  There’s still quite a bit of it hanging on in my state, especially on the hiking trails.

 

Last week I went hiking only to encounter this…

 

 

PMWR - Birch Point Trail Snow

 

It may not look like much but this snow was up to my knees.  And it was so soft that even my snowshoes didn’t help.  Crazy, huh?  Snowshoeing in April.

 

But, that same day, I ended up over at the beach near where I live.  It was cold because of the wind, but there wasn’t much snow around and none on the beach itself.  While walking, I met this little guy.  His name is Tuffy (or Toughy, I’m not sure how his owner spells it).  Funny, because he’s not tough at all!  But, he’s cute.

 

Tuffy

 

Hopefully the snow will get the message that it’s spring so I can hike my favorite trails without having to struggle through knee deep snow or use my snowshoes.  It’s mid April for crying out loud!

 

 

 

Until next time…

 

[^_^]

 

~A.M.

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Posted in Animals, Hiking, Photography, Snowshoeing

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Ice Jam

Posted on April 13, 2015 | Leave a comment

 

A while ago, I took a trip to…well, just get out of the house, really.  I figured I’d do a little shopping (and by “a little” I mean “a little” since I’m broke more often than not), and on my way home, I spotted a neat scene.

 

The sun was setting and I noticed this little ice jam, so I pulled over, grabbed my camera, and took a few shots.

 

Ice Jam

 

I don’t pull over to take pictures as often as I’d like.  I should probably get into the habit of doing that.  I’ve actually passed up quite a few good shots.

 

 

Until next time…

 

[^_^]

 

~A.M.

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Posted in Nature, Photography

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April Showers

Posted on April 6, 2015 | Leave a comment

When they said “April showers brings May flowers” I don’t think they were talking about snow. Yet, that’s what we got in my corner of Maine. Not only do we still have a bunch of snow (a few feet in some places), but we received dustings two days in a row over the weekend.

 

The chickadees are annoyed by it, the ravens are annoyed by it, I’m sure all the other wildlife are annoyed by it, and I’m annoyed by it. But what annoys me most about spring isn’t the random snow showers we get (sometimes well into the middle of April), it’s the mud that comes from the snow melting. It makes a few of my favored hiking trails pretty nasty in the spring. Almost impassable actually.

 

But I don’t go by the calendar to judge when spring has arrived. I actually think I mentioned this before, but I say spring is here when the flowers start to bloom and my lawn needs to be mowed for the first time of the year. And, well…we’re not there yet.

 

In the meantime, here’s something funny for you folks to gawk at. I stumbled across this (almost literally) during a hiking trip to Quoddy last month. I should have used my snow shoes. The snow was so deep that it nearly enveloped all the benches along the trailhead. But, someone didn’t let that stop them…

 

 

Butt Print in the snow

 

Until next time…

 


[^_^]

 

~A.M.

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Posted in Hiking, Photography

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Loss Is The Hardest Thing

Posted on March 30, 2015 | Leave a comment

 

Anyone who has ever lost a beloved pet, especially a pet who was more like a member of the family than just a pet, knows how hard it can be to deal with that loss.

 

I mentioned earlier this year that my best friend of nearly 17 years, my cat Tigger, passed away in January.  Tomorrow will mark three months that she’s been gone and I’m still finding it difficult to accept.  It still doesn’t feel real in a way, like I’m going to wake up some morning and find her napping in one of her usual spots.

 

And looking back through all the pictures I have of her, it makes me even more sad.  I have several photographs, but so few of them are actually good, clear, and proportioned.

 

Saying farewell, be it to a friend, a family member, or a beloved pet, can be one of the hardest things any of us has to do in our lives. That’s why I prefer not to say “goodbye” but “until we meet again.” It’s still difficult to deal with loss like this but I choose to hang onto the belief and hope that our souls reincarnate and that, in the next life, we’ll meet our loved ones who went before us.

 

 

Tig on Purple

 

 

Rest in Peace, Tigger. I will always love you.

Rest in Peace, Tigger. I will always love you.

 

 

Until next time…

 

[-_-,]

 

~A.M.

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Posted in Animals, Cats, Life, Photography

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“Whatcha Doin’?”

Posted on March 23, 2015 | 2 comments

 

I’m sure those of you out there who have pets (namely cats) have experienced at one point, your pet getting in the middle of an activity or important task you’re trying to take care of, searching for attention.

 

Well, one of my cats feels that I shouldn’t be writing without her presence.  She comes into the room, and if I’m sitting too close to my desk for her to hop up into my lap (which is most of the time), she’ll jump up onto my desk and get between me and my laptop.  She knows she’s not supposed to do that, but she does anyway, to get my attention and let me know I need to pay attention to her.

 

So, I push my chair back, let her get into my lap and when she’s bored with that (more accurately, I think she feels that I don’t give her the amount of attention she wants and she just gets annoyed), she climbs onto the arm of my chair then up onto the back where she perches and looks over my shoulder.

 

Now, I wear headphones to listen to music while I write and when my cat does this, I can hear her purring in my ear over the music, that’s how close to my head she sits.

 

Sometimes, when she stares over my shoulder, she sits there so long that I start to wonder if she’s actually reading what I’m writing.

 

Proof.

 
Abby Perched on My Chair

 

I wish she would give me a neck massage while she’s back there.

 

Anyway, I feel kind of guilty when she wants my attention (even though a good third of my daily attention is devoted to her already) while I’m busy writing and I only stop to pet her for a few moments before going back to writing.  So, I try to time it now so I sit down to write when she’s off napping.

 

What tasks do your pets get involved in, or try to distract you from?

 

 

Until next time…

 

[^_^]

 

~A.M.

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Posted in Animals, Cats, Photography, Writing

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