reflections

While visiting my mother in Maine,

 I took the opportunity to photograph

 some framed pictures of her parents.

Only when I got back to Boulder 

did I realize that I had failed to avoid reflections.

But, in this one of my grandmother,
 I was delighted to see 

that she's wearing the same gold bracelet

she gave to me when I graduated from high school.

The same one I've worn every day since.

By the way, that's Smokey sitting in her lap.

There were always several airedales in the house;

my mother says she remembers the cellar

smelled of wet airedales and bathtub gin during Prohibition.

Smokey ruled.

I come from a long line of dog lovers. 

catch of the day

I'm back.  I think.

Flying back this week from Maine took three days.
The last leg through Chicago took 24 hours,
while the other end of the whip
 thrashed Oklahoma.

There's no place like home.

a good egg

I realized I hadn't posted

 a picture of the actual egg.

And what a good egg it is.

This was taken within minutes of its arrival.

After the initial shock and awe,

mama sat on it,

 and it hasn't been seen much since.

Except for shift changes.

I think it's finally stopped snowing.
*fingers crossed*
Yay!

Hoping to find time this month to go home to see

Colin Page's solo show at Greenhut Gallery
in Portland.

look who's here

I don't know what this
looks like from the outside.

It's a cross-pollinated tweet of the first osprey egg laid.

I don't tweet, so

I probably laid an egg myself.

You should probably look for yourself.

http://www.bouldercounty.org/os/openspace/pages/ospreycamera.aspx

It's all happening now.

clockwork

This is nuts.
Two days ago, it was a blythe 75 out at Coot Lake.

If you're one of the very exclusive few who follow this blog,

you know that five weeks ago, also a Tuesday,

 nearly a foot of snow fell.

And that another foot of snow has fallen

 on every single Tuesday since.

Here we go again.

Due in late tonight, the fifth dump.

If I were an osprey,
I'd be filing a flight plan back to Rio.

artful nesting

Next to nature, we're such pikers.
Sometimes, it's best to just shut up and step aside.

perseverance

Remarkable.

Four weeks and four feet of snow this month 

have not deterred the osprey pair one bit.

Another foot fell like religion every Tuesday.

Every Wednesday, the birds wove

a new layer of sticks on top of the fresh snow.

Like religion.

Then one day, right in the midst of building their fourth taj,

you could see their moonstruck moment.

They sat like this for almost an hour,

sort of taking it all in.

She's on the left. 

They slept in the nest that night.

It got so I felt guilty for watching.

Today, they waited.

He threw some fish at her; 

she threw around some more lumber.

Because she can.

Meanwhile, I have a canvas

 testing my own perseverance.

Every once in a while, I throw something at it.

Because I can. 

 I don't know.

The longer it's on the easel,

the weirder it gets.

That used to be a whole ranch.

Now it's a nothing but a brick shithouse.

No taj there.

april snow

Which came first, 

the eggs or the snowstorm?

Lotsa snow.

The first of a three day storm.

I hope mama can hold on.

sam's salon

Allow me to introduce the latest members of my salon,

a nesting pair of osprey.

Meet the missus...

Being shameless, equal-opportunity hanger-outers,

they'd be happy to hang with you, too.

The Boulder Open Space webcam site is quite informative,
but I should warn you;

watching this slice of life is totally addictive!

It's the dog's absolute favorite channel.

After the past weeks of
 intensive nest-construction and protein-consumption,

it's a race to see who will get here first,

the next snowstorm or the eggs.

My favorite fun fact is that, 

after raising the kids, 

both adults go to South America for the winter season.

Though the pair mates for life,

 they vacation ALONE.

Wait, ladies, it gets better.

Mid-April, himself returns to the same nest.
and spends two weeks fixing up the house
 and rearranging the trash.

Only then does herself return.

Click below the webcam window to see her homecoming.
What a big girl.

She really throws the lumber around, doesn't she?

balls

That old man was agitating me.

Change the channel.

Figure this one out.

Same ball.

Same table.

Same camera.

control

stamp out spam!

Sad to say, times have changed.

Due to unwarranted and unwanted traffic on my blog,

I've installed every bell, hoop and whistle I can find.

Sorry to ask you to jump and shout.

Don't take it personally.

Unless you should.

sunscape

Dylan

I've been listening to a lot of Bob Dylan lately.

Last fall, we saw him perform with Mark Knopfler

 in a delightfully small arena (4000).

In spite of his being old-er, (what - you're not?),

 the show was wonderful.

So was Bob.

Look who showed up in my sketchbook. 

A much younger man.

fireplugs

What is it about all the offerings
on the fireplugs in this town?

The dog takes credit for some.

He thinks because he waters them,

 they're all his.

He calls them dogplugs.

blue vase

It took for-ev-er for this one to show up.

Though I still see lots to do,

I think I better leave it alone
for now.

andy's cows

-Andy Warhol

I like to buy art calendars in February,

when they're cheap.

It's a good way to collect reproductions.

Besides finds like VanGogh, Matisse, and Klimpt,  

I got a great Warhol calendar online from the Metropolitan

for $3.99.

And it came with this 24"x36" poster of Andy's herd.

Such a deal.

humpty-dumpty

hennessey

Must be some guy in a dog suit.

Dogs are big tippers.

evolution

I had just printed the picture I posted on February 10th.

When I put it on the counter with my pen,

I saw this.   

I swear I did not set this up;

I couldn't be this clever if I tried.

What I did do is see it

 and take a photo of a photo with my phone.

Last week, I heard a scientist speculate that,

as billions of us are now carrying cameras,

we may actually evolve into another species.

One which thinks and sees differently.

Hmmm...

march

I love March.

sunny side up

Good news!

Daylight Savings Time

begins in less than two weeks

on March 10th.

Sunny side up!

headstand

Standing on my head makes me sick. 

It makes me feel like something bad is about to happen.
Upside-down.

Pay-offs for living longer:

No more headstands.
No more twirling on a swing.

Ahhhhh... 

feral cat

Another feral cat showed up

at the house on Sunset Beach.

Barely.

here nor there

In the studio and on the laptop.

Neither here nor there.

Just an observation.

zippy fishies

Here's to zippy fishies everywhere.

They fly through the water like birds.

Remember to be amazed.