Category Archives: Family

An Old Friend

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A northern mockingbird perched in a tree in Mississippi

Given the circumstances, we had a good visit to see family in Mississippi after my mother-in-law passed away. I debated whether I should bring my camera or not, right up until I left for the airport, but in the end decided that I might as well bring it since it packs up pretty small and wouldn’t require much extra effort.

My job for much of the week was to keep the young children entertained while the adults did the adult stuff. There is a short path through the woods behind the house that we liked to take which yielded my favorite picture of the week, if not the year, so I was glad I brought the camera if only for that one picture of the two youngest kids.

I grew up in the east but didn’t get into photography until shortly before we moved to Oregon, so I have better memories than pictures of the birds of my youth. So whenever I travel back east, I’m always on the lookout for old friends. Our last day there was a quiet one, the kids having left the day before, so I had some down time for bird-watching and was again glad I brought the camera.

One picture I wanted was of the mockingbird that often hung out near the house. Like all the birds there, it was pretty skittish, but after sitting still on the porch for long enough, it eventually came close enough for some pictures. It was cloudy so I went for a high key look, which will not be everyone’s cup of tea, but I like it.

I didn’t bring my big telephoto lens or my tripod, it wasn’t that kind of trip, so many of the pictures are pretty soft. Nevertheless, it was nice to be reacquainted with family and friends alike.

Another Last Goodbye

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A rufous hummingbird perches at William L. Finley National Wildlife Refuge

After a lengthy illness, last week my mother-in-law passed away in her sleep. Out of respect for her privacy, I won’t say much more, except that she was always kind to me and made me feel welcome from the first time I met her. I am saddened by her loss but thankful she got to see her children and grandchildren before she passed, and that she suffers no more.

She didn’t like to be photographed but I’ll pay tribute with a picture of something she loved: hummingbirds. I never got a good picture of her birds, the dozens of ruby-throats that swarmed her feeders, never had the right equipment with me or the right luck. But I did enjoy standing near them and just listening as they buzzed by my head as they flew past to feed, and watching as they dove down from the trees.

This little bird is not a ruby-throat but a rufous hummingbird I photographed here in Oregon years ago. Not a great picture, and not one I have up on my main site, but sadly it’s my best hummingbird picture to date. Perhaps that will change one day, I’ve cleared out some space in the backyard and was wondering what to put there. This past week I thought of planting a little wildflower garden in her honor, stocked with plants to attract the fantastic little fliers that we both love.

Goodbye, Mom, and God bless.

Boolie’s The Thinker

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Self-portrait on the trail to Larch Mountain

Another in my line of goofy self-portraits while out hiking, this one taken last weekend on the trail from Multnomah Falls to Larch Mountain. I didn’t make it all the way to the top of Larch Mountain and took this on the way back down, a fallen tree made a nice bench in front of the large tree.

This is a whimsical take on Rodin’s The Thinker, I also posed in the classic pose but I didn’t like the shot as much since my hat threw my face into shadow. I didn’t get the classic pose quite right anyway, my right elbow was on the wrong knee and my left hand was wrong as well. I guess I’m not only no Rodin but no Dante in front of the gates of Hell either.

It’s funny how when you see the self-timer light on the camera blinking, you realize you can’t remember the details of a famous pose. This happened to me in the Tetons a couple of years ago, I was trying to do the Heisman pose and realized I didn’t remember the details of that one either.

This was only my second time out hiking this summer and I felt all of my 40 years by the time I got back down to Multnomah Falls. I was sore all over and pretty sure I wouldn’t be able to move the next day, but thankfully the only thing still sore 24 hours later were my calves, and even they weren’t doing so badly.

Perhaps I don’t have one foot in the grave after all.

Recovery

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Our cat Sam playing in our backyard

This was a low key weekend for me.

The previous ten days were exhausting, after getting back from a short vacation I had a week and a half of nearly non-stop work, including long hours on the weekend and one all-nighter.

To recover, I didn’t do anything this weekend that required much thinking. On Saturday after dropping my wife off at Union Station for her train ride, I went home and sat down for a while. I woke up a few hours later when the phone rang and she let me know she had arrived safely.

Little Sam then crawled up into my lap and zonked out for while. I watched the US Open on TV, probably the first time in my life I’ve watched golf. My step-father really enjoyed golf and I was reminded of the time he took me around his golf course and answered my many questions, in a way it seemed like we were watching it together. Tiger was playing hurt but also playing out of his mind and I have to say I quite enjoyed it.

I eventually dislodged my little kitten so I could have an early dinner and then work in the yard for a while. Today was equally ambitious, more yardwork and more golf on TV, and then I let the little ones outside.

Emma and Scout are similar in that they don’t like lots of noise and didn’t want to stay out long, while Sam is like Templeton in that he just loves being out there. It’s impossible not to think of our departed gray cat while I’m out there with the other cats, but it was comforting seeing our little orange kitten having so much fun, he even rolls around on the concrete like Templeton used to.

Sam is starting to learn the rules of Outside Time, he actually came running to the door when I clapped my hands and he realized it was time to go in. He didn’t try any escape attempts so I felt comfortable enough to grab the camera and take some pictures. He likes to crouch down and chase the other cats — another of Templeton’s traits — so I wanted to capture the little hunter. I leaned over to put the camera just above the grass to give the feel of a lion in Africa peeking out from the tall savannah grass.

I was going to mow the yard late in the day but things had quieted down and Emma wanted to come back out so I let the two of them play instead. I eventually brought them inside so I could have some dinner and watch the end of the basketball game.

A perfectly relaxing weekend, but it’s going to be hard to get up to go to work tomorrow.

Cough cough. Whoa, is that botulism coming on? Perhaps I’d better call in sick …