Tuesday, February 24, 2009

Truro

Her call name was "Truro". An odd name for a dog, I think. It's a name associated with Nova Scotia, Cape Cod, Mass., and(in Rhode Island), the oldest synagogue in the U.S.. Her registered name was fancier, Cloverdale's something or other. She was an energetic puppy, given to chewing almost anything. I soon learned to patch walls, since one of her favorite things was to lick and chew holes in the walls and the corner trim by the kitchen door. On one of her first outings to the beach she was just a couple months old, she picked up and carried an empty beer bottle. She was the sweetest dog I ever knew and probably the smartest. I inherited her, sad to say and also glad to say. She was alone on my working days, except for the cat Petey, but I don't think she developed any kind of relationship with that cat. After work, we would take long walks. Part of our route had a stone wall which she would jump on top of and walk whole length of it. Don't know how she decided to do that. Once out of puppyhood,( it was a long one), she settled down, her chewing days were over except for a Nylabone or two. She had a great personality which I think shows in this photo. Going through some old negatives, I found this one. She was a dog you never forget.
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Thursday, February 19, 2009

Green-up Time!

We'll soon be easing into spring. We've been having rain and mixed precipitation for a couple of days with daytime temps above freezing. Those piles of snow that were so beautiful are now a gritty, muddy heap. There are more wintry days ahead, I know, but we can see the light at the end of the tunnel. Some of the first green will be the ferns. I found this old slide and was able to print it out. I think I should not have sharpened the picture so much. The flocks of birds that spent so much time in the back yard are going about their little lives elsewhere. They show up now and then. The cardinals still come at dusk. I won't put my winter coat and boots away!.
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Sunday, February 8, 2009

My Desktop Photo

I keep this picture as my desktop now that we are in winter. Next summer, I'll put up a snow scene. This is from a couple of years ago, and, looking at the slant of the shadows, it was a sunny, warm afternoon. The shed is not yet filled with drying tobacco. There used to be a few tobacco farmers in the area and now it's just one. The woods where I walk was once tobacco fields,and it is now grown over with pine, beech and oak. The few cedars are struggling to survive the deer foraging in deep winter. There isn't much for them this year with another poor acorn crop.

I checked into Google Maps the other day and was able to find this old shed on their satellite map. It has a new metal roof that shows up nicely. I could trace my walking route from our house, through the woods, around the hay field and home, on their map. Hope to get back to this spot on a nice summer day, soon.
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Wednesday, February 4, 2009

What??? Another Deer Picture?

This blog certainly didn't start out to be devoted to deer, but here is another picture. It seems we are visited regularly by what is now a herd of them. We had yet another snowfall yesterday and, when I went out to do my bird seed duty this morning, the whole back yard had deer prints. This was taken from the bathroom window on Sunday. When I opened the window, this doe perked up her ears and posed for the shot. After a series of bad days, these creatures are providing us with a bright spot. Hurry up, Spring!
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