Monthly Archives: July 2008

A Sign

Katydid eating the stem of an iris

I’ve adopted a live-and-let-live policy towards the katydids in our yard. Unlike the swarms of little aphids, there aren’t very many of them and they don’t do much damage, so I tolerate a few chewed up plants in exchange for a few pictures.

It’s actually more than a live-and-let-live policy, as when I trim the roses I try to make sure that any katydids on the cut stems make it safely back to the main plant before the stems go in the yard waste bin. The fact that I go to any effort to save the lives of some of my garden pests is probably a sign that I need to see a therapist.

This adult preferred the gladiolus over the roses, you can see a hole in the stem that it has gouged out. The flowers were already spent so it wasn’t really hurting anything.

Foreshadowing

Our cat Sam sleeping on our guest bed when he was a kitten

A picture of little Sam asleep on our guest bed back on Christmas Eve, his third day with us. My wife and I alternated time with the new kittens in the guest bedroom and time in the main house with Scout. I thought that my time with the new cats would be reasonably productive while they slept, it seemed like a good time to get back to more serious writing.

However, Sam foreshadowed one of his traits rather early (foreshadowing being a sign of a high quality kitten) in that he wanted to sleep on you if at all possible. And when Sam zonked out, he went into a deep and tranquil sleep and you didn’t want to move for hours, even though your arms and legs were falling asleep. Since he was curled up in my lap, I couldn’t type very well, so I read books or browsed the web instead until it was time to walk to the candlelight service at church.

Rumor has it that I joined Sam in restful slumber a time or two.

In any event I have no complaints, it was both peaceful and comforting. My wife and I had taken time off around Christmas so it was a good time to get the cats acquainted with each other and with us, as well as a good time to transition from the sorrow of losing Templeton to the joy of welcoming new life into our home.

I have many treasured memories of Christmas over my life, but bringing Sam and Emma home will always be one of my fondest.

Tugboats

Our cat Sam taking a catnap

When I wake up in the morning, Sam is usually the only one in bed with me, tucked up tight behind my knees. Scout is sometimes there but otherwise comes in when she hears my alarm clock ringing. Sometimes, though, all three cats are in bed and tucked up tight next to me or sleeping on me, like furry little tugboats mooring me to the bed.

One such morning I woke up on my back with all three cats sleeping next to me. I carefully shifted over to my side, then as if on command all three cats filled in the gaps and curled up again. That removed any desire I had to get up so I drifted back to sleep.

Good thing it was a weekend.

Snapshot

Alligators sunning on a small island at Huntington Beach State Park in South Carolina

There’s a tiny little island at Huntington Beach State Park in South Carolina where I’ve photographed alligators, snowy egrets, great egrets, little blue herons, and least terns. On this occasion last summer, I just wanted a snapshot of the island itself since I knew it might be my last visit to the park.

I had focused on the animals when the light was nice early in the morning, so when the light was less nice I took a bunch of pictures to stitch together to create a panorama of the island – and as a bonus, there were a handful of alligators on the island, larger ones on the left and youngsters on the right, plus a snowy egret to top it all off.