We’re leaving on a jet plane, don’t know when we’ll be back again. Well, we’ll be back sometime. With being in the air for around 14 hours, I might actually end up missing a day on the blog — c’est la vie!
Category: Animals
Kitties and Cameras
Every morning I have to extricate myself from a clowder of cats and this morning they were wanting me to stay in bed with them. I think they can sense that something is up with all our preparations to leave for France on Saturday, because they have been clinging to us a little more the past few days. Another glass got broken this morning, and it ended up looking pretty artsy. We really like the large stemware, but they have a way of making their way to the edges of counters and tables where we tend to brush by and knock them off.
Speaking of France, I have had several inquires about what photo equipment I’m taking to France. The last two photos show the lineup of bodies and lenses, sans my Fuji X-Pro1 which I used to take the photos. The two Canon 1Ds bodies, the 17-40mm ƒ/4 and 70-200mm ƒ/4 zoom lenses, the 50mm ƒ/1.4 and 40mm ƒ/2.8 lenses, plus extra batteries may seem like a lot to carry, but they are not, really. I’ve been carrying one body, either a 5D or a 1Ds, the two zoom lenses, the 50mm lens and an extra battery with me everyday for the past 6 months in my laptop/camera messenger bag (not shown). The last photo shows how the cameras and lenses all fit nicely into my Lowepro Passport Sling Camera bag that I’ve had for a couple of years now. The Lowepro Passport is a compact, yet roomy bag that is really comfortable to carry. The zoom lenses give me a range from super-wide angle to telephoto, and the 50mm gives me a “fast” normal lens. The 40mm lens is a compact lens, and while not a true macro lens, it focuses close enough to allow me to crop to near macro levels, allowing me to leave my much larger 100mm macro lens at home.
Coordinated Colors
The coordinated colors of downtown and our birds.
Oh My! It’s May!
Here it is May 1st, which means there’s only ten days felt before we leave for France. In the meantime, we have finals to study for, backup watering systems to finish, salsa dance on Friday and work. The kitties were lying around reflecting this afternoon as was a band’s tour bus that I moved my car for so it could take my usual parking spot this afternoon.
King Puck
Puck was very proud of the results of his roll in the dirt when I got home. He trotted up proudly and posed like a king, asking me to photograph him to show everyone, pardonnez mon Français, how pucking dirty he got. Speaking of French, my fluency in French expletives improved greatly last night while I snaked out the drain. I had to go at it from the clean-out below the sink, the drain in the laundry room, and the clean-out outside (twice each), and then plunge the sink before I got the sink to drain freely. On the bright side, I got finished in time to photograph trois tulips in the twilight.
René Discovers a Chip
René discovered a chip that he thoroughly enjoyed. His feathers are growing back in after molting and over-plucking after his beak was cut back so he could use it. Yet he still doesn’t know how to properly groom himself, so I have to give him showers and brush his wings. We’re trying to get him to learn grooming from our other bird, but it’s slow going. You can read the history of René (formerly known as Joey) at http://photoofthedayetc.com/2012/12/30/joeys-big-adventure/.
Hanging Around
A fly was hanging around in the window caught in a spider’s web this morning. One of the reasons I like spiders.
Turtles
Between photographing Katarina, Jackie, David and Rudy playing with the kids in Family Promise on Saturday, I photographed the turtles sunning themselves under the partly cloudy sky, and swimming around in the duck pond. Thinking about the turtles, and all the playing and happiness those kids and students were having spending the afternoon together reminded me of The Turtles song “So Happy Together” — www.youtube.com/watch?v=Zv85y08aA2w
Guildenstern’s Latest Kitty Fashion
Guidenstern came up with a new kitty fashion for laying around on the deck — “Leaves and Filtered Light.” Kitty fashion is like sand painting — it only lasts one day.
New Tulips and a Dirty Cat
The new tulips I planted last fall are coming up — big yellow, red/yellow and peachy-red tulips. I’ll have to wait and see if there were other colors in the mix, as I’ve forgotten what all I planted. Guildenstern was out rolling in the dirt, and wanted to be held, of course.
Off Center & Not Even 