Coasting

Sometimes our lives take us on journeys that are unexpected.

You can feel as if you are afloat in an unknown territory.

You can face unexpected twists and turns and at some point have to stop and make a decision as to whether or not you move forward despite the odds.

oh brother I have tried
like a drop inside an ocean
but there's some comma on my light

there's a place where i am going

it's out of my control
so i'm going to coast
for a little while

[lyrics by Moontricks]

10 seconds

Sometimes you need to get your Ducks in a Row and they just don't want to cooperate.

Little Rogue Duckies!

Keep on keeping on and just coast along.

Sunday Stills ~ Black and white

 

Miss H202

My early Sunday morning walk.

Dead end. But what a great view when it opens up on the other side of darkness.

This is my first try and a Sunday Stills challenge.

See more here: Sunday Stills

Photos shot in the early morning with an infrared camera. With an 850nm filter which only will shoot in black and white.

Journeys

Sometimes I wonder about this journey I've embarked on. There are so many unexpected twists and turns.
Things can go smooth and easy like travelling a well paved road.

Other times it is just a rollercoaster ride where the car has flown from the track and you wonder where you will land.

There are hills.
Valleys.

Road blocks. Unexpected dips and joyful highs.

So I just go.

One foot
in
front
of
the
other.

I am an attack dog! by Charlie

So Val thought it was hilarious to put a winter coat on me. Seriously? A coat?
Oh.
And then she added the rest and as you can see, I laid quietly there on the couch and ignored her giggles.
Silly woman.
Silly silly old lady!

We went out to do chores and thankfully she did not try to make me wear the hat or the gloves. Too big.

I supervised the hay sleds and the sweet feed to Mica. I take a nibble just to do a quality assurance test before she gives it to the elderly mule. She says that this spring maybe I can ride with her on Mica.
We shall see, that is a far ways off the ground.

We got to the water pump thingy and she filled up some buckets.

I started to hunt around and pretty soon found a new playmate. It moved very slow and did slimy icky poops and hissed a lot. It wasn't one of Basil's cats it was something big and it had tiny eyes and big white teeth with a bare tail.
So I grabbed the tail and then it pooped and then I let go and then it hissed.

Suddenly Val did a shout and told me NO NO NO!
Oh my dear, I heard the first NO. You don't need to repeat as if I am a dolt with deaf ears!

I looked up at her and then back at my new play mate who had stopped in the yard. It did the poop thing again. It then laid down and was super still.

I sneaked up on it and was going to grab its tail because this was one of the best 'chases' I'd ever had in slow motion. Birds were fast, skunks were fast [yep I got yelled at for that one too], and chipmunks are amazing, squirrels go up trees...but this thing, it was slow and nasty. Much fun-ner.

NO CHARLIE!

Aww come on!

She whisked me into the house and then did something. She told Rich that the possum got away and was probably in the old red shed.

Next morning while we were feeding Dixie, there was my playmate again! It didn't move! Just hunkered into the deep snow and lay still as a ... Val... said still as a possum. And Dixie ignored it. Some hunting dog she is!

Well. My poopy playmate is gone. I don't know where it went but Val went around with a shovel and cleaned the slimy poo off the snow and chucked it somewhere so I won't eat and roll in it.

Instead I went on a walk with Basil and Logan. We walked with our people on the road as the snow was soft on top and very deep.

At least I did not have to wear that embarrassing coat. Basil wears hers because it keeps the sand and slush off her underbelly. Mine wipes clean I guess because I have a different fur coat.

The snow was deep!

We climbed snow mountains with Logan.

And then hurried home before then next snow came.

I hope my slow chase animal comes back. It was too fun and the poop would have been delicious.

Meanwhile, I think I will hold down the couch and dream of big adventures.

Mr. Morris has a new clock

Mr. Morris decided that I needed to take a walk the other day. I wanted to check the mailbox on the ridge and any excuse to get out for a bit is a good excuse. Fresh air is good for you.
However we happened to pick one of those days that the winds were roaring overhead on the ridge.

I put on my fur fox hat and grabbed my camera bag [of course!]. Even though we'd had some very light snows, the overall color of the season right now is dull, drab, and dirty looking.

Dingy ~ Gloomy Drab Dark Dirty Shabby Squalid

This is the view down the private drive of the neighbor. Dull, dingy, dank, dark, and dirty looking. However to avoid the raging winds, I walked this way as the trees protected Morris and I from the biting cold.

Morris keeps having some pretty decent days. Most of his time is spent sleeping. He has a routine that he now keeps.
Up between 4AM and 5AM. Outside immediately. He wears a pet light so I can see him in the dark.
Breakfast must be served between 5 and 5:15 or he gets frantic.

One more outside visit and the couch is his for napping.

Between 2:30 and 3PM, it is time for activity. He walks around the house and grunts until I get dressed. He bounces around playfully and shoots out the door when I open it.

I have been keeping him on a leash since his last little adventure when he went home after about a 20 minute hike into the woods.
I brought the leash but let him off when we headed down the neighbor driveway. He was more of his old self. He'd trot ahead, then stop. Smell. And when I'd whistle he'd come on the run.

Since the view up the driveway seemed SO drab I thought it appropriate to edit it with some grunge textures. I used Topaz Studio to edit my files quickly and very easily. I actually didn't walk past the tree on the right as the winds whistled fiercely across the open area beyond.

I thought to myself that this was so ugly, it was almost beautiful in a way.

I watched Morris sniff around at the coyote tracks and the 'possum tracks. He trotted back and forth. I bent down to pet him and put him on his leash.

And this is what I got!

The little turd!

However to be honest, he does love to walk on leash out to pick up the kids at least once a week between 3 and 4PM. The route is the same as is the timing.
I can now count on this being a part of his routine. As soon as 3:30 hits, he will turn and head home.

I didn't mind this at all as I could see him trot up ahead. He went to the mailbox and made a turn down the hill. He sat on the porch and awaited my return patiently.

When I arrived, he calmly walked inside and stood next to his feed bowl.
He stared at me while I got undressed. As if he was trying to mind meld with me to let me know "food" was urgent.

Precisely at 5PM, Morris will stand in the kitchen and then walk to the couch. He goes back and forth. Eventually he makes a nest and settles in. If we walk into the living room to watch Netflix or something, he sighs deeply and gets off the couch.
He is adamant about laying between the two of us after we settle in.
I think he wants us to know that the couch/love-seat really belongs to him.

Morris still rules.
The Little Old Mr. Morris has a set of rules that must be followed by the rest of the members of 'his' family.