The natural world, life, and dogs.
This weekend would normally have seen me traveling with my dogs from my home in central Idaho to the central part of Washington state. It’s a long drive, eight or nine hours each way, a trip I would only undertake for a special reason. Dog camp. My dog camp is why I make that taxing… Continue reading Dog Camp: Creating Family
Animal sentience is generally defined as the ability to feel, perceive, be conscious, or to experience subjectivity. The word “sentience” comes from the Latin verb sentire, which means “to feel.” The RSPCA Australia (Royal Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals) Knowledge Base website has a good definition that’s easily understood: Animal sentience is… Continue reading Altruism
All but one of these photobombs occurred in the first half of May 2020, when wildflowers were near their peak in the Payette National Forest at elevations between 4,000-4,500 feet. My dogs are patient as I constantly stop to take closeups of wildflowers when we're out in the forest. They explore nearby as they wait,… Continue reading Dog Photobombs VI: Early May 2020
Virtually all of the seasonal birds - the song birds - have departed for destinations south for the remainder of the year. I've been feeling their absence more intensely than I ever anticipated. More on that in an upcoming post. The remaining birds are those who fly these skies year round: mostly red-tailed hawks, magpies,… Continue reading Herding Ravens
Trying to get caught up - there are soooo many dog photobombs in my file folders - so here are the last I've found from 2018 and 2019. The next "edition" of photobombs will be 2020 photos. The original dog photobombs post is here, the second installment (sub-theme: fluffbutts) here, the third installment (sub-theme whatcha… Continue reading Dog Photobombs V
Over the past several years, in late summer I’ve noticed a tall, leggy plant with big leaves and a brown top. Some are taller than me (I’m 5’4”). Based on the round, conical shape of that brown part, I always figured it was some sort of daisy-type flower that I’d somehow missed earlier and was… Continue reading Rudbeckia
A few days ago, I was pulling weeds from my gravel driveway. The night before, I had used the sprinkler to dampen the ground, making it possible to pull roots along with the plant from the otherwise sun-baked, hard ground. As I removed plants that morning, I discovered several ladybugs moving among the stems, apparently… Continue reading Ladybugs
During a recent trail run I watched Conall do something I’ve seen him do before, but this time, in a flash of insight, it took on greater meaning. I had an “Aha!” moment. Suddenly, a behavior I’d observed without much thought was shown in a much broader and important context. Reflecting on memories of similar… Continue reading Counting the Pack
Four years ago, on July 31, 2016, while working at my computer in my home office I noticed some dragonfly love happening under the eave just outside my window. Near sunset. How romantic! What caught my eye.Fuzzy closeup. At first, I didn’t realize what I was seeing. It was easy to identify them as dragonflies… Continue reading Dragonflies
Back in May I wrote about a book I had just purchased, Brewer’s Dictionary of Phrase and Fable. It’s a tome of interesting and curious words and definitions, and, as the title implies, phrases and fables that have been retained in or incorporated into the English language over millennia. It’s a really fun reference. Recently… Continue reading The Bottom and Breaking Wind
