Thursday, October 6, 2011

October - some introspection and some fun

Fall weather has come as we move into October. Some crisp days are welcome after the unrelenting grey skies and rain we had in September. Soon it will be Hallowe'en and then Thanksgiving and then that headlong rush into Christmas as the year ends. This year seems to be slipping by quickly. That was brought to mind more clearly to me yesterday when I heard that Steve Jobs had died. As self-centered as it seems, news like that always hits closer to home when the person is close to you in age. He was only a few years older than I am. He truly was a person who had everything except his health. That puts things so clearly into perspective - what's important and what really is not.

I have a two new residents at the house now. One is a little bird. I think it's a sparrow but it could be a wren. He (or she) sleeps every night on the post that supports my back porch. It's hard to get a good photo. Here's my best effort.
He shows up some time around dusk and leaves as soon as it begins to get light. He's been with me for about a month now. I look for him every evening.

My other guest comes from my brother who is away from home for a little while. His dog, Lucky, is staying with me. Lucky is old now and is almost blind from cataracts. He has always been a good tracker and retriever. It's clear that his sense of smell is as good as ever. He can zero in on unattended cat food quick enough. Here are two photos of him. The first was taken when he stayed with me many years ago. He looks sad but he was having a great time. He was just waiting for me to throw a stick into the water for him to fetch for the millionth time. The second was taken this morning. Poor old guy. He is still the happy dog he has always been and loves everyone.
We're getting along just fine. It's fun to watch the cat around him. She's usually scared of dogs but she also likes to protect her territory. At first she shied away from Lucky or hissed at him when he came near. He can't see or hear her, though, and isn't interested. Now she seems annoyed at the lack of attention.

And speaking of Sam the cat, I have a video. I took a quick movie of her just to see how it would look on the TV. She has never paid attention to the TV before but she perked up when she was on the screen. She didn't recognize herself, of course, and didn't like it that some other cat had invaded her territory. I decided to post the video on YouTube - adding to the giant volume of cat videos that are already posted on the internet. Here it is. It's good to have the sound turned up so you can hear her yell at herself.


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