The other day I spotted a bit of an anomaly on one of the truck tires. Specifically I saw a green spot where there should be nothing but black. Upon closed inspection I discovered a large (but cute!) praying mantis curled up and taking a snooze on the tire. Not the safest place for a nap. I proceeded to whip out my camera, which seems to be surgically attached to my hand at times, and proceeded to take a long string of photos. Much like another praying mantis I took pictures of, this one didn’t appreciate being a model for me and woke up soon enough and attempted to put some distance between it and the strange human with the flashy box. It wasn’t very successful.

I’ve picked the best three shots and uploaded them to my DeviantArt account. For full view just click on the images (or the link next to them) and photo’s DeviantArt page will open in a new browser. You don’t need an account to view them.

Camera Info. -
Make: OLYMPUS IMAGING CORP.
Model: FE210,X775
Shutter Speed: 1/700 second
Aperture: F/3.1
Focal Length: 6 mm
ISO Speed: 64
Details -
File Size: 162 KB
Image Size: 162 KB
Resolution: 640×480
Location: DeviantArt

Camera Info. -
Make: OLYMPUS IMAGING CORP.
Model: FE210,X775
Shutter Speed: 1/700 second
Aperture: F/4.6
Focal Length: 6 mm
ISO Speed: 64
Details -
File Size: 169 KB
Image Size: 169 KB
Resolution: 640×480
Location: DeviantArt

Camera Info. -
Make: OLYMPUS IMAGING CORP.
Model: FE210,X775
Shutter Speed: 1/40 second
Aperture: F/3.9
Focal Length: 9 mm
ISO Speed: 64
Details -
File Size: 163 KB
Image Size: 163 KB
Resolution: 640×480
Location: DeviantArt

I finally have another shutterbugging post and of course it features insects. My apologies for those who get grossed out by insects. Next time I’ll try and pick subjects that are more appealing, like sunsents, or even display objects like glasses of beverages, Avo cigars, rocks, something other than insects.

For the curious, after I was finished taking photos of the praying mantis I picked him/her/it up and moved it out of the way so the praying mantis did not get squished when I left. :heart:

We got a rather unexpected thunderstorm yesterday that included lots of wind, rain, and hail. Not to mention it also managed to knock the power out for a couple of hours as well. This morning there was a nice bit of fog rolling about when I went outside. However, the fog that was present this morning was nothing compared to a few days ago. I have pictures of that charming day thankfully.

I had hoped to sit outside and enjoy the weather but pretty much everything was soaked since the storm literally came out of nowhere which resulted in nothing being put up prior to. From the lawn chairs whose patio cushions were drenched to the very lawn which was soggy and sodden.

We’ve been getting a lot of rain these past few days. Thursday was the worst as we had a near constant downpour all day long. When it wasn’t raining heavily it was sprinkling, and when it wasn’t sprinkling it was drizzling. Friday was nice though. A little rain in the early morning and that was it. Denali was pleased because it was the first time in a couple of days that she got to go outside. I let her out again earlier because it was bright and sunny out.

Of course, since I let her outside it just had to start raining. Denali really hates the rain, mostly because it means she has to stay inside, but also for other reasons. One, she can’t do anything after it rains because everything is wet and she hate getting her paws wet. So when it started raining Denali immediately sought shelter on the hood of truck which happened to be situated under one of the Elm trees.

She was mostly upset over the rain, because it meant she was getting wet, but of course I don’t call her my big scaredy-cat for nothing. Lightening spooks her but nothing terrifies her more than thunder. There was a big crack of rumbling thunder right when I managed to snap this shot:

Poor baby. I shouldn’t laugh, but I find it so hysterical that this big fluffy cat who prides herself on hunting anything that moves is downright terrified of thunder. She hears distant rumbling and she’s on the alert. She hears the deep rolling thunder and she’s bawling and climbing into my lap looking for assurance. Thunderstorms also work as a sort of appetite suppressant with her as well. She just can’t relax so eating is out of the question with the rumbling of thunder in the air. She might nibble if she’s starving, but only if someone is there petting her and reassuring her that there is nothing to be afraid of.

She tried to get down on her own in order to run into the house, but alas, the truck was already surrounded by a big puddle of water. Denali started meowing in distress, due to the water and thunder, so I took pity and carried her in. Even though this meant I had to wade through ankle deep water and mud to do so.

I was out late this evening, taking advantage of a few places that are open late and offer free Wi-Fi, and when I came home the house was completely dark. No lights on at all, but honestly, that didn’t bug me in the least. At least it didn’t until things started jumping at me and crashing into my legs! I nearly screamed like a little girl, but I didn’t. I did whimper though before shooting off through the dark and stumbling my way up to the kitchen porch so that I could flick on the light. I didn’t know what to expect, to be honest, but this wasn’t it:

Did I perhaps stumble upon and impromptu game of leap frog? Oh, excuse me, that would be leap toad.

They were cute, although I can’t understand why they kept crashing into me. Wouldn’t once have been enough to warn them? Or were they just being thoughtful and trying to warn me? I dunno, but what I do know is that after I finished taking pictures of the toads I turned around and damn near stepped on a snake. A rattlesnake to be exact. He’d been on the edge of the grass where it gives way to gravel and right in the middle of walkway. Oddly enough I like to cut across the grass instead of following the walkway.

Did I stick around to take pictures of this guy? Since he was hissing and rattling his tail I opted to use my brain for once. Instead I backed up as quick as I dared to, scooped up the toads, and jogged around the house to enter the kitchen door through the backyard.

How I managed to avoid the snake on the way back from the kitchen to investigate what had crashed into I don’t know. I’ll tell you one thing though, who needs diet pills that work to help stave off hunger attacks when you can have the shit scared out of you instead. I lost my appetite for a late night snack pretty fast and opted instead for some Earl Grey to calm my nerves!

My grandfather is planning on visiting my cousin over the upcoming holidays and requested to borrow some luggage. So after digging around in storage I found the old Eagle Creek luggage. They were very, very dirty, since they haven’t been used in, um, years, so I took them outside to clean them off and air them out. That’s where I spied this critter:

The Praying Mantis was just sitting there, not moving a muscle so I happily ran back inside and took some pictures. After I started firing off shots though the mantis decided to start moving around.

I’m guessing the praying mantis didn’t appreciate the flashes going off in its face, or me standing there for so long because it got very, very annoyed with me. How annoyed, you ask? This next shot was taken just before it launched at me:

I tried to take a front shot of the mantis since it turned to face me and managed to get this one shot. The next second I was shrieking like a girl because the mantis had lunged at me and was on my camera, which by the way, was still held up to my face as I had been in the process of taking another picture. I started hopping around trying to get the pissed off praying mantis off of my camera.

Man, you’d have thought I was harassing the bug or something. I was only taking pictures! Shesh!

I was actually outside, just a few moments ago, cleaning the throw rugs when I happened to to really stop and take a look around me. It’s been hot and windy around here, but on odd days it’s been completely overcast and windy; really making it look like we’re in for some rain. Sadly we haven’t gotten any. Of course, since we just painted the house maybe it’s a good thing. In any case, looking up at the clouds rolling around today made me want to run inside and grab my camera. I did just that.

As I was scaling these photos down to a more manageable size one song kept playing in my head: Steppenwolf’s “Magic Carpet Ride”. Eventually I moved to the playlist that had the song on my iTunes and stuck it on repeat.

I’ll be uploading the full-size photos to my Deviant Art account later this evening.

I’ve been wanting to buy a few new books, mainly the latest editions to some of my favorite series that I still haven’t gotten around to buying yet. I’ve been scrounging around trying to find the Amazon, B&N, and Hastings cards that I should still have. I thought, maybe, one of them might be out in the car somewhere, and sadly it wasn’t. I did finally take notice of the flowers blooming in our garden though.

These irises are pretty resilient; they’ve been uprooted and moved multiple times in their lives. First they were uprooted from my grandmother’s garden in Texas when they moved to New Mexico. Then the plants had to be dug up and moved when we moved the hedges and widened the driveway. Every season they grow back stronger and more beautiful than the last. I loved this shot so much, I even uploaded the full size to my DeviantART account. It’s very originally named White Iris.

This one was also uploaded to my DeviantART account. It’s called Baby Bird Eggshell. I shouldn’t be allowed to name art and photo submissions. Not a flower, true, but I did find it next to the hedges bordering the flowers.

I took quite a few shots of the other irises, roses, and morning glories found in our garden. Most of them I didnt like though, they just looked so ‘blah’. Definitely nothing to write about. Now these two came out…okay. Nothing really interesting about them, but I did like them.

I honestly don’t know how I didn’t notice that the flowers were already blooming. Goes to show how observant I am around our house. Sadly my gift cards are still AWOL. I guess I’ll just have to wait some more or pay for them with cash. The second option bites because I can’t buy as many that way!

I found this wicked looking critter on the curtains on the kitchen door the other day (nasty looking stinger he’s got there, isn’t it?) and I had a startling realization – spring is here. So, armed with digital camera in hand I ventured out into the sunlight (gah! I’m melting!!) and decided to see what I could see.

I must have taken a couple dozen shots easily. Most of them were just silly or came out awful. I was surprised however to see that some actually came out worthwhile. Surprised because I wasn’t actually planning on saving any of the pictures let alone posting them. I ended up posting quite a few to my deviantART account too.

These are the shots that I felt somewhat proud of and uploaded to DA. Click on the thumbnails to see the full image. For some odd reason, the peach trees, despite being in full bloom, just did not look all that pretty. Most of the blooms on the plum tree had fallen off but the pistachio tree looked very lovely. If you look closely in some, you can seem some critters edged their way into the photo as well. All links lead to the respective file’s page on deviantART and open in a new tab/window:

For some odd reason I even felt the need to change my laptop’s desktop to a more spring-feeling one. Since I didn’t want it to have any anime, actors, characters, or anything in it, I opted instead to whip up a simple one using the photos I took.

If you like it and want to use it, feel free to. I uploaded the wallpaper to deviant art account as well. It’s called Full Bloom Wallpaper and is at a 1280×800 resolution.

I have been informed that Denali has not been getting her fair share of photo time here lately. Could it possibly be because Denali has taken to always turning away from the camera as she used to do when she was younger?

In any case, Denali has made her thoughts on her lack of “photo time” quite clear in this image:

And no, Denali is not in need of Lipovox for kitties. Her winter coat has fully grown in and she is back to her fluff-ball self again. So if you’ve only seen pictures of her from the summer and fall months, that’s where the radical change of size comes into play. She’s actually only gained about 2 pounds. Which is surprising since she tends to plump up mysteriously around holidays.

It’s been a while since I had a chance to post, hasn’t it? But look! I am back and bearing images full of purrty goodness too.

As you might have guessed, these photos all have one thing in common: Isis and her dislike of the cold season. I say dislike, because she does enjoy Christmas, especially all of the lights and decorations. It’s just the drop in temperature she can’t stand.

During this time of the year I have to be very careful when I sit on my bed or put anything on it. Always have to pat down the section I plan to sit on or place my bags on because you never know who might be under the blankets.

It doesn’t matter if I make up the bed either, Isis will dig at the corners and end of the blankets until she can burrow under at least the top blanket and climb on in to her improvised hidey-hole. There she spends all day snoozing too. And when I say all day, I mean all day. She’ll reemerge to eat and go to the restroom, but then she scurries back to her warm spot and hibernates. I swear she sleeps so much during the winter I don’t know how she can sleep at all during the other seasons as well.

Got some reading material for her? WHether it’s some boring Hydroxycut reviews filled with technical jargon or manga I’m sure Isis will like it. It’s not like she’s moving any time soon.

It’s been quite some time since I took a picture that I thought came out halfway decent and was worth sharing. Today presented a unique oppurtunity. I woke up this morning heavy wind throwing leaves and twigs against the windows. Then around 10am I heard some thunder and chanced a glance outside. The sky to the north and north-west was completely blanketed in darkness while the southern sky was cloudy and gray. You could literally see big gray clouds rolling across the sky at high speed and taking over what was not already shrouded in darkness:

A few minutes after I took that picture the skies opened up and down came rain, sleet, and hail. It last for a good half hour or so too.

I must admit, New Mexico has some of the best sunsets I have ever seen. That’s not to say that other places lack beautiful sunsets (I’ve seen some very nice ones in France, Texas, and Arizona) but rather I just like NM’s best. A couple of days ago I happened to be walking back from checking the mail when I spied this sight:

You can actually see and follow the dying sun beams as they branch out to the sky above. Almost as if the setting sun is not quite ready to say goodbye and fighting with all it’s got. And what a fight it is, check out those hues. It’s like the sky is on fire there!

Quite by accident, I even have a video shot of the sunset. You see, when I saw the ray the rays of the setting sun were shooting up I knew it was a picture worthy moment. So I hurried into the house, grabbed my camera, and ran back out to take a photo. Just one problem, I didn’t bother to check and make sure that I had the proper settings on my camera. I still had it set to video. As a result, you now have a few seconds of video to enjoy the sunset.

Alas, I was unable to do it justice. Thankfully though, the xd picture card I have in my camera allowed me to take multiple shots (and the video) so I got to keep the best ones. I have a very bad habit of snapping pics and leaving them on the camera. I actually had a lot of videos that I used for my “My Hotel California” music video still on the camera. Eh-heh, whoops?

Last year the New Mexico State Aggies hosted a football game to help raise funds for breast cancer researcher. Head coah Hal Mumme’s wife is one of many women who has been diagnosed with breast cancer and who hasn’t given up the fight. During this game, the Aggies are more than proud, not to mention tough enough, to wear pink. And this year they’re going to do it all again.

On October 18th, 2008 at 6:00pm MST, the New Mexico State Aggies will be taking on the San Jose State Spartans at Aggie Memorial Stadium. That same day, the Aggies are also sponsoring the Tough Enough To Walk Pink Fun Run/Walk. The walk/run will start at 8am at Horseshoe. Participants can walk or run to raise funds for breast cancer research. To participate or sponsor a participant visit the Pink Aggie Schedule for the necessary details and forms.

The images in this post are courtesy of the Mountain View Hospital gift shop in Las Cruces, New Mexico. I was pleasantly surprised to see a pink display there when I stepped in earlier today. As you can see, this display is in conjunction with the Aggie’s “Tough Enough to Wear Pink” campaign. There are a variety of items to select from too, such as: book bags, arm bands, hats, t-shirts, bears, and so on.

Last year, I attended the game briefly (hey I was working after the game, didn’t exactly feel like sitting in the cold all night then going to work!) and was pretty amazed to see a few women with strollers that sported the pink ribbon for breast cancer. I would like to think they were those nice eco-friendly ones I’ve been hearing a bunch about lately, but I know nothing of strollers and couldn’t honestly say. I don’t know where they were bought since I know for a fact that they were being sold as part of the Aggie “Tough Enough to Wear Pink” promotion, but I thought it was one of the better items you could find decked out in support of breast cancer awareness. Something that would be used year round and relegated to one’s storage closet like some of the other items you can find, like Frisbees and milk crates. Yes, you read that right, milk crates.

Yesterday evening I felt like wandering around through the yard and field in an attempt to find some interesting nature shots. After finding a very interesting beetle I decides plants and clouds were so overrated and began looking out for insects and arachnids. To start off the ball rolling, I present to you the field from which all of the following critters hailed from. Some where smack dab in the center, others in the larger foliage that edged the field, and some on the very outskirts. (click on image for full view)

Also uploaded at DeviantART The first subject of the evening and the little guy that got me hunting for things that crawl, hop, and fly, instead of looking up into the sky or at all the green around me. I have absolutely no idea what type of beetle this is either, but if you know, please feel free to tell me. This little guy’s shell was such a lovely shade of metallic green that the setting sun reflected off of it and easily caught my eye. I absolutely adore the designs on his shell. Kind of Celtic looking too.

Also uploaded at DeviantART. A very beautiful white butterfly who was trying to get some rest and bed down for the evening until this rude human came and stuck a camera, literally in his face, and snapped off a few shots of him. Bright flashes and all. It’s kind of hard to imagine such a dainty and pretty looking thing having murderous thoughts, but I’m sure he managed them just fine and I got a starring role in them. I was surprised that he let me get that close and fire off as many shots of him as I did though. (click on image for full view)

Also uploaded at DeviantART. Here’s another shot of the same butterfly seen above. Since he let me get right in his face I decided to press my luck and take some shots from all angles. Eventually though he did get fed up with my meddling and decided to flutter off. I managed to catch him and tried to take an up close picture of him with his wings spread, but the little bugger wasn’t having any of it and took off the moment I opened my hand. (click on image for full view)

Also uploaded at DeviantART. I’ve been seeing so many tiny and small sized grasshoppers (locust?) around here lately but no large ones. I honestly began to think something was killing them off before they were able to fully mature. Thankfully that isn’t the case, they just seem to be hiding better this year. Anyway, I really liked how this one was blended in nicely with the twigs on the ground versus its brethren which were perched on grass blades and hopping all over the place. He stood out, thus he got his picture taken. Say cheese! (click on image for full view)

Also uploaded at DeviantART. After stepping away from the pretty green beetle featured above in the post, I walked right by this spider. In fact, it was only by chance that I glanced down and noticed him hanging in [seemingly] midair. Thankfully I didn’t mess up his beautifully spun spiderweb with my absentmindedness. Snapped off a lot of pictured of this guy, but my flash kept bleaching him out. At this point the sun had pretty much set so it was getting pretty dark out. Not the best lighting conditions sadly. Now, I believe this is a male black widow spider, but don’t quote me on that. (click on image for full view)

Also uploaded at DeviantART. Here’s another shot of the same spider above. This time the emphasis of the photo is not the spider, but the spiderweb itself. I tried to angle it just right so that the remaining light coupled with the flash of my camera would illuminate the spider’s web for you. I also made this one in black and white to give the spiderweb some contrast and set it apart from the background. I wanted to pull back further so that you could see more of the web, but when I did that, the web itself started disappearing in the shots and it looked like, once again, a spider floating in midair. (click on image for full view)

And last but not least, we have a stink bug! I know, generally when someone says “stink bug” you pictured the shield bugs. However, these guys are indeed stinky and, in my opinion, emit a far more noxious scent then the shield bugs do when they’re alarmed. It spreads further and lasts longer. Ugh. Anyway, I spied a lot of these beetles crawling around but pursued other insects until eventually I saw this guy all by his lonesome at the edge of the field. He looked so sad climbing over twigs by his lonesome, wandering about in circles as if looking for something desperately, that I snapped a shot of him. (click on image for full view)

It’s been a while since I shared some photos with everyone hasn’t it? Well, I’ve had lots of great photo opportunities, sadly though, they didn’t always come out too good. Those that did weren’t exactly share-worthy either, if you catch my drift. Early Saturday morning I went outside to see just what had the dogs in a hissy fit (joggers) and spied a rather beautiful morning in the making. I had to take a couple of shots and share them with you:

(Click on the image to see the full view.) The rippling clouds in the sky looked so beautiful. They were this utterly gorgeous shade of navy blue, the surrounding sky was a wonderfully contrasting blue with violet tinge, and on the horizon you could see more fiery hues creeping in. Utterly peaceful and amazingly beautiful. This one is definately my favorite of the three images in the post. I’m thinking of making a wallpaper for my desktop with this one too. I’ve uploaded this to my DeviantART account as well. So you can view and favorite it there if you like.

(Click on the image to see the full view.) This one managed to better capture the fiery colors of the sunrise (akatsuki!) and I liked how the cloud on the horizon looks, but over all this one is disappointing to me. Perhaps it’s because the green of the tree’s leaves detracts from the sunrise? I dunno, but this one is my least favorite. I only uploaded it here because it showcased the brighter colors of the morning than the other two images did. To me it definately wasn’t worthy of going on my DA account though.

(Click on the image to see the full view.) Now, while I did like the colors shown in the image above, I much preferred this one. Here the foliage is nothing but a silhouette which gives more emphasis to the approaching sunrise. This one was also uploaded to my DeviantART account.

I remembered to upload my choice images to DeviantART (eventually) but I kind of forget to get over here and post them. Actually, more like I got distracted. I was lost within the realm of books, the last part of The Girls He Adored by Jonathan Nasaw really sucked me in, and then there was the football game, and then shopping. But the important thing is that I remembered!

You have the late night television to thank for my new found memory though. I was going to watch some television, but I kept seeing these annoying and boring infomercials telling you to either call within the next thirty minutes and get this…free! or to call now for your free life insurance quote today! and I decided I’d rather come read some some fanfiction and blog than suffer the woes of late night television.

It’s been a while since the lawn was cut, primarily due to the fact that it has a tendency to rain just when one is planning to get out there and cut it. Anyone who has ever tried to cut wet grass can attest to the fact that it is not pleasant and more trouble than it’s worth. Well, it’s been looking like it’s going to rain again, cloudy and gray all day long, so we scurried out to get the entire lawn cut. That’s several acres worth by the way.

After the lawn was cut, lots of critters came out. Mostly mosquitoes and…

Denali was having a blast pouncing and rolling Isis in the fresh cut grass. Despite the lawnmower having a bag on it, some grass clippings lingered behind. I thought I’d return the favor and get Denali dirty too. I don’t think she appreciated it.

What’s this? It appears as though something has caught Denali’s eye. Knowing her, it’s probably something that she would like to put into her stomach too! Oh dear, I do hope whatever it is has had access to some miniature exercise bikes and is in tip-top shape. It’s going to need to be fit in order to run.

Denali’s victim of choice this evening is….a grasshopper! Yup, out of the grass came a grasshopper, he’s actually larger than most of the runs hopping about this evening, but he’s only about medium sized in comparison to the ones I usually see. Run, run little grasshopper-san! You can make it. Ganbatte Grasshopper-san, you have to go higher than that. Denali, when standing on her back paws, can reach past that point on the door!

He made it! Yup, the little guy managed to get up high enough on the door and out of reach of Denali’s franctically waving paw. It was actually kind of cute to see her herding it towards the closed wooden door. I don’t think she realized that these guys can climb up walls and thought she had it trapped.

Well, better luck next time little hunter. There were plenty more hopping in the lawn where this one came from!

As promised, I’m back with the rainbow images I took this morning, along with a few other early morning shots I took. These are definately better quality than the cloud and mountain ones I posted earlier. You can barely see the beginning of the rainbow down near the ground as it gets completely smothered in the colors of the rising sun and the clouds don’t help much either. Still though, I thought it was lovely to look at:

Here’s a zoomed in shot of the beginning of the rainbow so that you can see more of it.

With the rain came some bad, of course. We found out that the wooden floorboards under the back door had warped a bit with the rain, which left a slightly larger gap between the floor and door than what was there previously. A gap that a young water moccasin exploited. My mother quite happily smashed its head in with a nearby boot, picked it up by the tail, and flushed it down the toilet. All the while shrieking her head off. I now have visions of a snake popping up and biting me when I do my business. Quite the embarrassing phobia, I assure you.

Aside from the warping of floorboards, there has been the build up of algae on the sidewalk in spots where the water puddles never seem to get a chance to evaporate. There has also been some noticeable spots where the ground has broken away, as you can see to your left. Thankfully the canal bank hasn’t suffered much damage. No thanks to EBID of course. I will never understand the logic they utilize when it comes to maintaining the canals. They seem to think scraping the sides will get rid of the dirt that builds up and gets pushed into the canals. Yes, scrape the sides, but leave the bottom alone. Real smart move guys.

The waters certainly look calm and beautiful in the early morning, do they not? Alas, I am afraid there are no cruises available. Not even short ones. After all, the canals are interspersed with irrigation bridges that contain gates and go under the roads themselves.

I just realized that this was a pretty graphic intense post. My apologies guys! I hope you enjoyed them though.

It would seem that New Mexico’s “monsoon” and “rainy” seasons are now only a scant weeks apart. Our monsoon season, apparently, is the months of June and July. August, for as long as I can remember, has always gotten rain within the first couple of weeks. I honestly can’t recall a year where I went “back to school” and there was no rain. But considering how much rain we got, a week or so passes of dry, and then the rain is back in force. It’s just plain weird.

As you might have guessed, we got some rain again yesterday, and some heavy showers last night. It did make for a beautiful morning however. The clouds were hovering low over the mountains, and a rainbow could be seen in the South. I’ll be back with the rainbow pictures later.

I’m actually rather loathe to put this post with these photos under the “Shutterbugging” category, as the majority of the photos I took this morning came out horrid. But there were a few half-way decent images that came out, nothing I would consider bragging about though. Just images I want to share with you so that you can just how beautiful the mountains looked this morning. Enjoy!

I took a couple of pictures while I was outside the other night, there was only a small amount of water running in the canal at the time, but I couldn’t help but marvel and how peaceful it felt. I ended up sitting on the bridge; listening to the water course beneath it as the sun set. It was all so very relaxing, I imagine folks from the most stressed out of occupations (futures broker, account, lawyer, doctor) would have been able to relax fully there.

I ended up taking this shot while on my way back home. The sun had almost disappeared completely and it was getting dark. The water below looked so lovely.

Hard to imagine that this same canal courses with murky and polluted water, right? All sorts of substances are illegally dumped into the Rio Grande and canals themselves. Septic cleaners have been known to dump the contents of their trucks in the river, not to mention the fertilizer and pesticides that find their way into the water. Then there are the folks who throw their trash (and sadly pets) into the canals and river as well.

Anyone want to go for a swim?

I was up bright and early this morning (for once) and as a result, Isis got to spend the morning outside. She was certainly pleased with that change of pace. The furry-lawnmower ate her fill of grass then settled down where the sun shone down on her and basked in the warmth. She’s an indoor cat now, but when she was younger she was very much enjoyed roaming around outside.

As I mentioned in my toad post, I’ve decided to make better use of my DeviantART account and have begun uploading my better photos there. So from now on, when I showcase a photo here, if I’ve also uploaded it to DA then I’ll provide the link for it over there as well. This way readers who have a DA account can favorite it or comment on it with ease.

Also, since I’m highly critical of my own photos, if I have a photo showcased here and I don’t provide a DA link (meaning it’s not uploaded there) and you think I should submit it to DA, please feel free to tell me.

Also on DeviantART!
I had to lay down on the grass and get up into Isis’ personal space for this image. She tolerated it for the most part, thankfully. Usually she ducks away from the camera, or if she’s in a really cranky mood, she’ll take a swipe at the camera. She hates the flash.

Since Isis was being so cooperative, I tried my luck and took a zoomed-in shot. I think I began to annoy her, which you can see in her eyes in this picture. What this picture doesn’t show you is that two seconds after I took this picture Isis took a swipe at the camera. Enough is enough, I suppose.