PBW: Cold Days Ahead

When I set out with my camera this past weekend, visiting with B13 and some other friends, I had no idea how cold it would be. Photo Blog Wednesday is going to become a challenge as the temperature drops, and I definitely need to start wearing my hat and gloves. Next weekend I was supposed to go to another paintball outing, but it was canceled for various reasons, not the least of which how much frozen paint would hurt.

Still, once I was outside with a camera, I wasn't about to turn back. There's a lake near B13's with an awesome trio of bridges and waterfalls. From there, we visited ”Miss Fine” and ”Mr. Sheffield”, one of whom appeared here last week. I now know that my friends distinguish their newly adopted canine siblings with a blue collar on the boy and a pink collar on the girl, easy enough to figure out in hindsight.




It cracks me up that those birds gather near that sign, no doubt expecting food. By the way, the first shot is desktop sized when you click on it, as is this next one:


On to the pooches:



The previous image is another desktop special. The dogs were comfortable, but after we arrived we took them for a walk through nearby trails. On the way in, a couple of housebound hounds looked out from a porch with envy. When I stopped shivering long enough to try some photography, I ended up with some blurry ducks. Clouds were rolling in, and even without leaves the trees were thick enough to hinder(Mo-hinder?) conditions.




The dogs were zonked after the exercise. B13 tried to hold Sheffield so I could get a good shot of his teeth, but after my first blurry shot the dog squirmed out of frame at the last second. I have no idea why he wouldn't sit still for that.



After grooming his sister, Sheffield scanned the room with his cyborg eyes. See if you can make out the title of the DVD on the table behind him.

“All your friends are dog people,” observed my mom. B13 and his wife breed Border Collies. My other friends rescued the above siblings. A buddy at work recently adopted a Mastiff, which I'll have to get some shots of if he brings it in one of these days. From his description of her dimensions, it sounds like he has a small muscular horse. Our home has always been a haven for cats, and I've actually been a little afraid of dogs in the past, even going out of my way to avoid them. A chance encounter in the woods or on the street with an unleashed fang fiend is definitely different than hanging around pets that have gotten used to you as you've gotten used to them.

We have two cats, three if you count the stray that will come in for food, but won't let anyone pet him or close the door. With snow on the ground on Sunday, I thought his survival instincts were a bit foolish, since we're clearly not a threat after the month or so he's been coming here to eat. So we've got our Sunday cat...



...Chirp, our smart cat, who had no problem walking in to a warm house and not looking back:


....and Cubby, the scaredy cat often found wide-eyed under furniture, in this case a rocking chair:


The house was getting pretty cold with the screen door open. I closed it, and the Sunday Cat fled to the basement, looking up with such terror that I immediately opened it again. As soon as I turned to walk back into our kitchen, I heard the scrambling of paws, and he was back out in the snow and wind. He peeked in from outside, but didn't venture in anymore that day. He was back on both Monday and Tuesday according to my parents, and now follows a set routine. He's on our step in the morning, comes in for as long as my mom leaves the door open, and at night when we lock up, he vanishes into the woods to parts unknown. I hope he makes a decision to stay soon, before we get real snow, because then it will be time to bring the cat in. Boom boom boom. Whatever that means, Galactica.

That's all for now; enjoy these last two desktop images!