Catching up

I realized today that I'm way behind in sharing photos. The summer has flown by and I haven't had time for much reflection or sharing. I'm not sure where I left off, so I went back to when I first got the new (smaller, more portable) camera for the trip to China. Here's one of the first pictures I took with the new toy (as usual, the dog was my subject):

Autumn Scenes

In a swirl of wind and bluster, yesterday's rain managed to knock the first few leaves out of the trees. I imagine now that the cold has arrived, the rest will follow in a flurry of fall color. You can see the beginnings of it here, in the view from an upstairs window at home during the rain:

Also, you'll be relieved to know that despite the newly-arrived winter's hardships, Nonnie is managing to keep warm:

Sunday is Nonnie FUNday!

Every weekend, usually on Sundays, Nonnie and I go for an epic walk together. It used to be that we'd just walk somewhere from the house -- around the neighborhood, to downtown Chattanooga, up onto Missionary Ridge, or over to the Southside -- but in these dog days (ha!) of summer, it's just too hot out to spend much time in the direct sun, so we've gone searching for shady pathways.

Today, we did almost six miles out at the new Enterprise South Park (thanks, Volkswagen!), but I haven't gotten those pics off the camera yet, so here's a photo of Nonnie from last week's adventure down at the Chickamauga Battlefield -- she loves those monuments!  ;-)

Have a great week, everyone! Classes are starting up again here tomorrow (at least at the University -- the younger kids have been back at school for more than a week already!), so we're looking forward to getting back into a routine...

Friday Creature

I took this picture at my brother's farm last weekend during the family pow wow. Just moments later, the dog spooked the baby goat, the goat took off, and the dog chased it all the way to its mother.

Have a great weekend, everyone! This week's ark is already afoot!

Friday Creature

Whew! I'm glad this week is coming to a close. We had some very strong storms roll through Chattanooga on Wednesday, unleashing wind, hail, rain and multiple tornadoes all over the region. A lot of people are still without power, the death toll continues to climb, and there is so much cleaning up to do. I'm feeling very lucky at the moment, as our house was not damaged, our power was only out for a little while, and no one here at Chez 10K was hurt.

And now that the weekend is almost here, Nonnie and I will start looking forward to our Sunday walk, which has become a regular weekly event since the warmer weather returned. Instead of going to church in the morning, we choose to glory in creation by doing some urban hiking. It takes an hour or two, depending on our destination, and we usually cover at least three miles (one week we had a bit of a directional problem and ended up walking over seven miles!). This photo is from a few weeks ago, snapped when we stopped in a shady spot for a quick drink of water.

Have a great weekend, everyone! More creatures can be found on the modulator's ark! Be safe, happy and well!

Friday Creature

Yeah, I didn't post a Wordless Wednesday this week, but I've been migrating to a new computer and I don't have any of my photos on the new digs yet. But I went to some extra effort to bring you this Friday Creature -- because the weather has turned very nice all of a sudden (hence the sunny scene) and because I finally broke down and shaved the dog this past week (hence the clipped version of the dog from last summer, right after we had that awful hackberry tree cut down). We're in transition, folks, and warmer weather is right around the corner!!

And there are more creatures on the ark for your consumption. Have a great weekend, everyone!!!

Friday Creature

Wow, it's been just a gorgeous week here in Tennessee! Gradual warming, a little sun, and the opportunity to get outside a bit has me feeling like this shot of Nonnie relishing a wide open grassy field last summer (not many things are as beautiful as an animal moving at top speed!). I got out for a run yesterday, a bike ride to the store this afternoon, and I'm looking forward to a walk this evening with G-Dog. It feels so good to be out and moving around after being cooped up in the house with all the winter we've been having!

There are creatures on this week's ark -- welcome to the weekend, everyone! May it be peaceful and fulfilling!

Friday Creature

Congrats to the people of Egypt. Peaceful regime change is a tricky business, but it looks like they managed!

And welcome to the weekend, everyone! I'm still waiting for the early spring promised us by the groundhog, and getting a little less patient about it. The dog has the right idea, though -- when the weather gets like this, it's best to find yourself a nice, warm patch of sun. More creatures await on the Ark! Have a restful and restorative weekend!

Friday Creature

We have had a wonderful week of snow that G-Dog calls his "snowbatical" because the university here was supposed to start back up this past Monday, but instead, he got the week off because of the weather. Everyone saw it coming and since we love a good snow day, Emmie came over after finishing up on Sunday and we all hunkered down, waiting for the snow. A lot fell overnight, and the temps haven't gotten above freezing since, so it's all still out there. Emmie eventually had to go back to work, but before she left, we took one last long walk in the snow and along the way, we ran into this very righteous dog named Otis. He loves the snow (as you might guess from his appearance). Roll a snowball his way and he will pounce like he's found a mouse.

(The Modulator is still on a travel break, so no link for this week.)

Friday Creature

Welcome to the first weekend of the new year, everyone! The Friday Creature is starting out fresh with no more shore birds, and it's been a while since you've gotten a look at the greatest dog ever (AKA Nonnie, my faithful hound), so here's your first creature of 2011!

(There won't be any Friday Arks in January while The Modulator is off on an epic adventure. Happy trails, Steve!)

Friday Creature

Sorry for the quiet this week. It's been busy and I'm spending the day today driving down to Florida, so unless there's some unexpected wireless, the radio silence may continue.

But in the meantime, don't miss this week's Ark and stay warm and safe during this winter arctic blast!!

(Oh, and by the way, the holidays can be exhausting when you're a pooch!)

Friday Creature

Here's a puppy, enjoying an old toy on the eve of (probably) getting a new one...

I hope you're having a wonderful day. Travel safe and stay warm and enjoy every last drop of this long holiday weekend (and check out the special Christmas Ark!)!

Friday Creature

Brrrrr!!! It's such a cold morning here in Chattanooga (we might even get a bit of snow tomorrow!) that I'm inspired to reach back to warmer days for this week's creature. This photo of the dog (and her very hip water bottle) comes from a few months ago, over at her nearby special spot where she can run sprints. Happy Friday, everyone! Have a great weekend, and don't forget the Friday Ark!

Friday Creature

Brrr! A chilly wind doth blow this morning! This will be our first weekend with real fall weather -- highs in the 50s! Yay!

To celebrate, here's a random dog that we saw down near the lake in Chicago during our summer travels. Other creatures can be found on the Friday Ark! Have a great weekend, everyone!

Friday Creature

This week I give you another creature from my summer travels, and this one is a hero. My cousin's dog woke everyone up in the middle of the night last year with his barking. Turns out, an aquarium downstairs had shorted out and started a fire. It was still small and mostly just smoke and pungent odor when my cousin reached it, thanks to the dog, and no major damage was done!

Have a great weekend, everyone, and go say hi to the critters on the Ark!

Friday Creature

Time for the big reveal! Remember the menacing presence in last week's photo? Well, it's time for her to come out of the shadows! I give you... Moxie the mauxie! She's not nearly so frightening once you get a good look at her. She loves to follow the cats around, but doesn't understand why they don't return her enthusiasm for interaction! The pale/orange cat just runs off and the dark/gray cat will put up with just a bit of sniffing before she rears up and swats Moxie in the face. And then, in a few minutes it all starts anew.

Happy Friday, everyone! It's been a good week here in Chattanooga -- the temps are starting to cool down and Tropical Storm Claudette brought us some much-needed rain. And now we're going to dry out for the weekend! Have a great one, with plenty of rest and relaxation (you might even head over to the ark and set a spell!)!

Friday Creature

Here are the two cats I've featured recently, only now they're together and facing a mysterious other. There's so much intrigue there, I had to add a little soundtrack. Stay tuned, as next week, the shadowy figure will be revealed! Can you handle the drama?

Have a great weekend, everyone! We'll be in transition here, as Emmie moves back to campus and we brace ourselves for the first day of classes on Monday (how this could be allowed to happen before Labor Day is a completely mystery to me!). Summer, we hardly knew ye! Of course, the creatures of the ark are steady as always...

Get sound effects & royalty free music at AudioMicro.

Friday Creature

This week, Nonnie turned ten years old. We had a party on Wednesday, with presents to unwrap and yummy food. She's pretty indispensable around here. One of her very important jobs is to monitor the activity in the neighborhood and she takes it very seriously. If a person comes along -- especially someone wearing a uniform and/or in a loud truck (like a mail carrier or UPS/Fed Ex delivery driver), she will alert you to the intrusion until your ears bleed. Our doorbell is pretty much extraneous.

Sorry about the late post today! My Friday ended up being more like a Monday -- thank goodness it's over. And there are always the arkettes to distract a person from the day's headaches! Have a wonderful weekend!

Friday Creature

We recently had dinner at the home of some wonderful neighbors -- good food, wine, and music, great friends, and as a special bonus, we got to hang out with Buford, one of the coolest dogs in the world.

In other news, the summer heat has arrived. We'll be staying inside this weekend, as the temps reach for 100°F. Blah. But maybe this means I'll get to do some cooking... And on a more positive note, there are always new creatures on the ark! Have a wonderful weekend!

Friday Creature

I'm plum out of creatures that don't live with me, so this week you get to take another peak at my dog. Here she is looking just about as comfortable as a body can possibly be -- which, of course, is her special talent in this life. That and sleeping. She's really good at sleeping.

If that didn't quite scratch your creature itch, there are plenty of others over on the modulator's ark! Have a fantastic weekend!