tgif!

snippets, 5-30-2013-2

Heh. Texas finally resolves its long-running 'best school mascot' debate: The A&M aTm collie? The Texas longhorn?

Nope.

snippets, 5-30-2013

Portraits of Boston: It ain't all about money.  (h/t dangerousmeta!)

(This new fitness craze is a good one, too.)

focus...

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happy mother's day!

bewick's wrens

magnolia blossom, v-xxvi-xiii

baby burrs

blurgh

black-eyed susans

gardenias, v-xxvi-xiii

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yucca puppy

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Amy took this picture with her phone.

ah, v-xxiv-xiii

snippets, 5-23-13

beautywild: How you do anything is how you do everything.

snippets, 5-22-13

Why we turn to dogs when disaster strikes.

Related, 5/23: Three cheers for Texas Task Force 1!

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snippets, 5-21-13

It was only after I yelled at my dog for barking did I realize I had the power to make things that bother me go away.

- From an Amazon customer review of the Denon AKDL1 Dedicated Link Cable

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ondine NOT fetching (video)

field notes, v-xix-xiii

ondine five-eighteen thirteen

I like the rhyme in the title of this post. Here is an interesting article about dog training techniques. I liked this quote from the comments:

I do remember being struck when in Scotland at the Int’l Sheep Dog Trials...at how quiet and kind the handlers were. One dog messed up horribly, lost the blue ribbon because he took the wrong flank, and his handler just stroked his ears and said “Oh my, we all make mistakes, don’t we?”

field notes, v-xviii-xiii

moontide

field notes, v-xvii-xiii

Our four o'clocks are huge this year. They're getting more sun since the chinaberry's gone.

Saw my first firefly of the year this morning. Summer is here.

Ondine saved me from an angry chihuahua last night. The yappy little crapper a couple doors down was loose in his front yard. He came charging at us, barking. I thought he was reacting to Ondine, but he passed right by her and came after me. Ondine quickly wheeled around and planted herself squarely between me and the dog and let out a mighty "ROWF." He backed off and kept barking, but he was done at that point. I thanked her kindly and we continued on our way.

snippets, 5-16-13

Found this at Rolling Stone: Beck covering David Bowie - nine minutes of HOLY WOW, man.

o et la rose

a little rain

6:00 a.m. at the park-n-ride.

happy adopt-iversary!

Pan came home with us a year ago today. He's one of the good guys, a guy you want by your side, stardust and sunshine and joy.

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who's a good kitty...?

That's cat food in the box. (The dogs get Iams.)

happy mother's day 2013

pan in the kitchen, v-xii-xiii

field notes, v-xii-xiii

p&o, v-xi-xiii

yawnindogs

field notes, v-xi-xiii

pan, v-x-xiii

field notes, v-x-xiii

black-bellied whistling-ducks

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snippets, 5-9-13

It might surprise my dedicated visitors that I agree with this guy: No, I do not want to pet your dog. (I also am fully aware that to other people my beautiful and beloved friends probably look a lot like the author's two-year-old.) :)

bren's lavender

chard

rocks and flowers, v-vii-xiii

a texas bouquet and a pretty girl

snippets, 5-6-13

A Child's Wild Kingdom (NY Times).

Who's a good boy?

san gabriel w pan, v-v-xiii

We came across an unleashed Akita today. The owner called out, "He's friendly," but I pulled Pan off the trail and waited for him to secure his dog. As they passed us, the owner said, "You should let him off the leash. It's more fun." A thousand reasons why I shouldn't went through my head, the first one being that Pan probably wouldn't have had much fun blundering into a dog three times his size, and also, skunks, wild pigs, prickly pears and the park rule requiring pets to be leashed. I nodded and mumbled, "Have a nice day." Or something.

Twenty minutes later, four bicyclists overtook us, and another approached from the opposite direction. He stopped and said, "There's a huge rattlesnake on the path about a half-mile ahead. Those other cyclists will probably scare it off." I thanked him for the heads-up and thought, well, dang, I won't get that picture, but it also felt like vindication, you know, another good reason to keep the boy on the leash.

Later, we did see a snake, a very large garter or racer, who took a running leap off the embankment as I composed the last shot above. No worries.