ambivalent images

Wild Turkeys II

Wild turkeys on the lawn at the cabin near Red Lodge.

Wild Turkeys

Wild turkeys outside Redlodge, MT. See them there in the grass? Ok, so I didn't get a good picture, but you'll have to trust me on this...

Bye bye birdie.

The pitiful remains of a bird that flew into our grill on the eastern border of Yellowstone. It was sad, but what can you do?

Dear Deer

A deer outside my window yesterday morning. Silly animals, aren't they?

Lucy Lick

A blurry shot of my cousin's dog, Lucy, saying hello. I took another shot of her in profile so you can get a better idea of what she looks like—a cute little Shi-Tzu. Very lively, very affectionate, loves to be held and given attention. Small dogs are cool b/c they can't really damage people or things. While we were inside saying hi to Lucy and talking, our big monster dog was in the backyard killing the flowers and threatening to claw holes in the window screens. She wasn't being malicious, she's just big enough to do damage w/out meaning to. Of course, we love her anyway.

Owls and Raptors at UW

A short-eared owl at the University of Wyoming. My sister took this last week on her cameraphone when the birds were visiting the university. The little animal at right is called a burrowing owl and she was told it goes into gopher holes; she's not sure if it does this to retrieve food, or to sleep, or what. It is about 8 to 10 inches fully grown.

You know you must be in someplace like Wyoming if my sister could take these pictures last week on a bright, warm, sunny spring day, and then Mackenzie could take these pictures only a few blocks away and only a few days later. Spring in the Rockies!

Annie

Annie, our landlord's dog, pauses while chasing a squirrel to allow me to take her picture.

Plecostomus

The plecostomus in L's aquarium as it was feeding the other day. After having some of her fish for close to 8 years (a very long life for freshwater aquarium fish, I'm told), this hearty fellow is now one of only two fish left in the tank.

In-Dash Doggie

BG sits on the dash of my mom's Beetle wating for us to come back to him. BG is a small dog and the Beetle must have one of the biggest dash areas of any car I've ever seen, so he fits up there pretty nicely with a good view. He seemed to like waiting there for us, but he'd always get up and start prowling around anxiously as soon as he saw us coming back to the car (see pic at right).

My Name Is Inigo

M's dog, Inigo, wonders why I must torture him so by taking his picture.

Pouting BG

My dad's dog, BG, waiting patiently for someone to let him down off of the table. When we go to grandma's all he wants to do is run around and sniff the whole house for possible crumbs someone might have dropped somewhere. This means he's not very happy if he has to stay in one room. We put him on the card table because that way he couldn't keep scratching the door to get out. Isn't he cute?

Aibo

A Sony Aibo robot decides it doesn't want to play with its toys inside the “Sony Style” store at Tysons Corner. This “dog” was kind of entertaining, but I can't imagine paying thousands of dollars for something like this. I mean, it's pretty cool robot tech, but it would be a very strange “pet.” I learned that these things come with specially coded cards you can flash in front of them; they will scan the card and decide whether they feel like following its commands. Apparently the more time you spend “training” them, the more likely they are to respond to commands. Weird.

Also weird is how much Sony appears to be trying to copy Apple retail stores with these Sony Style stores—they look a lot alike. Or is it that Apple copied Sony? Which came first?

Wood-Boring Dust

Sawdust from a wood-boring bee on our landlord's porch. At the top of the photo you can see the hole that's the source of all this sawdust. I just saw this bee one day and the next day I saw the sawdust and the next day he seemed to be all gone. These things are scary! I had an infestation in the eaves of my house when I lived in Illinois and I'm sure if I hadn't called an exterminator quickly they could have basically eaten the whole house. They go through wood so fast you can actually watch the sawdust fall in a steady stream from where they're boring into the wood. Can you imagine what it would feel like if they got mad and decided to go to work boring into you?

Lucy

My cousin's dog posing for the camera in Indy. Lucy is a very sweet and very tiny little Shitzu.

Hollis

Hollis, a 5-month-old American Bulldog (or was it Boxer?) chills on the recliner. Hollis is about the most laid-back dog I've ever known. Soft, cuddly, and cute, though.

Toad

A toad poses for an evening photograph at Deep Creek Lake, Maryland.

Dog Food

Bags of dog food sit on the shelves at our nearby large chain pet store.

Caterpillar

Fuzzy caterpillar on a rock along the Blue Trail on Sugarloaf Mountain, MD. This was taken with a flash, which is why the caterpillar is a little sparkly.