Jake turned 9 today. For some reason, I thought he would be turning 7, but no. He is 9, and old man like me. He got to sleep in for his birthday. We had leftover pizza for breakfast. Jake got the pizza bones (the crust) after his regular breakfast. We went out for our morning walk at noon.
We walked down to the beach, and Scoopy took Jake for a scoop on the wet sand.
Then Jake claimed his own island in the middle of the Rio Grande.
He made a couple of laps around the beach in celebration of his island.
Jake was a little dirty, a little tired, but satisfied with his birthday celebration on the beach. The rest of our walk was uneventful.
On our evening walk, Jake romped with a miniature Austrian Shepherd and made a new Japanese friend.
Dusk
Daddy Owl hooted “Happy Birthday, Jake” from the top of a tree.
Besides making a great name for a rock band, Love & VD seemed an appropriate title for VD. The popularity of both in 2026 may be in question as fewer people have been hooking up and shacking up in recent years. For old, married folk, there is plenty of romance to be found in a heart-shaped pizza!
Jake and I walked through a tangled tunnel of love with pink markers this morning, and ran into…
The cranes were not in a loving mood
Jake found himself with a river to the left of him, bosque on the right. There he was, stuck in the middle with tree.
Does anyone remember “Tunnel Of Love” by Dire Straights?
“BIG YAWN! That’s what I think about Love & VD. There’s no way I can love a dawg, especially not a Virtual Dawg!”
We ran into a sweet Bernese Mountain Dog on our evening walk.
Silver: “Hey, Paparazzo! What does it take for a kitty to get some shut-eye around here?”
Neither hither nor thither Over hill nor dale had he come To be found lying face down In a state of perpetual dither Scooped up into the nether He was lost But on the fourth day He fell back to earth Dropped by the ether Under the influence Of a blue moon So bright What’s one to do? Other than continue the saga Of Scoopy on a frozen beach Waiting a spring thaw
After making a WiFi symbol in the snow by opening the gate to the ditch, it reminded me of my mispent youth back in the 20th century, when us boys peed our names in the snow, while the girls made snow angels. Any of us whose snow monikers were in our girlfriends’ handwriting were like super groovy back then. A snow WiFi symbol seems fitting for our 21st-century tech.
Sandias at noon
Sandias at 1:00 pm
Spunk in the catio
Silly Spunk
This is the best tree when it snows
Laurie got Jake happily running in the snow.
GIF by Laurie
While Jakes was out running around, the cats lined up on the bed to nap, with the odd cat out.
Herbie: “Hey Ralph! let’s see if we can find some kitty!” Ralph: “I have some business to attent to first! Herbie: “What do you mean, ‘Business to attend to?'” Ralph: “I have to go ‘potty’ as the human’s say!” Herbie: “Oh wow man! OK! Hurry up.” Ralph: “Hey Herbie! Check it out, man! It’s a real masterpiece!”
Herbie: “Hey Ralph! Quit kicking dirt in my face!” Ralph: “Hahahaha! Eat my dust, Herbie!”
*Reminiscent of Cheech & Chong’s “Ralph & Herbie” on their “Big Bambú” albumn, 1972.
Spunk: “You and the coyotes have gone too far with that crappy ripoff from Cheech & Chong. Those coyotes are uncreative, creepy characters with nothing but kitties on their twisted little minds. And you! You’re a sicko, pathetic, perverted paparazzo! I’m so embarrassed I’m crawling into a bean sack so I don’t have to look at you!”
Jake: “I think Ralph and Herbie are hilarious. I love crappy, mucus humor! You’re just an old sourpuss, Spunk! Lighten up a little and enjoy some lo-fi canine humor!”
Spunk: “At least my masterpieces are really Art! Unlike Ralph’s crap.”
Gwendolyn: “Hey, Spunk! Remember that I contributed to your latest masterpiece.”
Jake and I stood on the edge of the river at twighlight and watched the Sliver Moon rise this morning.
The Sliver Moon did not get to rise very high before it was swallowed by Dawn.
Osric Owl. Nora and Osric
Cranetrail
Quite A Surprise
After we came home last night, I opened the door to the bedroom and there was a bird flying around in the dark. Before I could turn on the bedroom light, it flew into the bathroom. When I turned on the light in the bathroom, it was a Western Screech Owl.
I offered my hand like I do to our birds, and told him to step up. He stepped up onto my hand with his sharp claws and iron grip. I lifted him up and he hopped over to the towel rack where we photographed him. I stroked his feathers behind his head while I talked to him, and then checked to see if he was injured. He did not seem to be injured, so I put on a glove and tried to get him to step onto my gloved hand so I could take him outside and let him go. He did not like the glove, and bit it while he held tightly onto the towel rack. I finally got him into a sweater box, covered it with the towel, and took him outside to let him go. He refused to fly out of the box, so I offered my hand, he stepped up on it, I lifted him toward the sky, ad he flew off.
It’s a real mystery how he got into our bedroom. He had to get on the deck, which he could through the 4-inch vents near the top of the roof. Then he would have to get through two cat doors to get to the bedroom. Even though screech owls are small, I believe he is too large for a cat to carry in through the cat doors without the cat getting injured by the owl’s sharp claws and iron grip, and the owl getting injured by the cat.
I think like Spunk disappearing for a month, Sasquatch and the scoop shovel, the Screech Owl in the bedroom will remain a mystery.
Screechy is a handsome little guy. Not happy with il paparazzo taking pics of him.
Laurie’s GIF gives you a sense of scale. He is full grown. He started to relax and closed one eye while I stroked him.
Scoop shovel saga update: Old Scoopy had gone missing for a couple of days after Sasquatch left by way of the portal. I presume Scoopy was out looking for Sasquatch. I found him standing next to a sad seedling that’s tied to a post and wrapped in chicken wire.
Off Center & Not Even 