Hard to tell from these particular photos, I know, but Joy and I (that's me on the left and Joy on the right) seem to get ourselves in some funny positions when we are out hiking!  heh.  At least this time it was SUNNY!  First time in weeks we had sunshine on hiking day!  Woohoo!  We knew it was going to be a Great Day. It was an auspicious beginning.

In actual fact, we did find ourselves in odd positions a time or two during this hike, not the least was which was the three different times we ended up in the exact same spot!  Even though each time we had a different starting point and came in from a different direction, ultimately, over and again,  we found ourselves in that one same spot!   The second time through we muttered a quiet little, "gosh this looks familiar" to each other  but the third time was just a flat out, "Oh no!  Here we are again!" followed by bursts of helpless laughter!  So with that in mind, I'm calling this Photos Safari, the "round and 'round hike" .

Despite the mild frustration of the Kafka-esque situation,  it did result in a few terrific photos because that one ever returnable spot had wild iris's growing everywhere!  What a treat! We appreciated how perfect and rare to find something so elegant and refined amidst the wild surroundings:
​

There were plenty of other wildflowers to be seen throughout the hike though the Iris's were definitely the stars of the show:

Other botanical type stuff:

Oh, you expected to see some birds?  I got Birds for ya. Including two eagles (in the same tree!) and a hawk!!  It was a good birdie day

A couple of randos just for fun:

Overall I'd say it was a great hike, repeat viewings of one particular part of the forest  notwithstanding.  heh.   Hope you had a good time joining me for the "Round and Round hike". It was a terrific Photo Safari I think.

And just in case you wondered, as it turns out, the forest loves us, just as much as we love it.  You want proof?  We saw this right in the trail path:

Awwwww!  We Heart You Too Mother Nature!

In a bizarre bit of serendipity, late last week the "check engine" lights in both Tim's car and mine popped on late last week.  Dang.  We decided to tackle the issue one vehicle at a time and since Tim drives about a zillion times more than I do, obviously, his car is the one currently at the garage awaiting a repair verdict.  Sigh.

I think everyone in the known universe is well aware of how I feel about driving  (boo hiss)  but did  you know that feeling extends to cars in general?  Yup, I am not a fan.  And I wish, I so wish, I could say that it was for save the planet type altruistic reasons but it's not. It's primarily because they are a constant financial drain.

First there is the initial purchase price which is big buckerooties, then registration, taxes, insurance  and the continual updates on those things.   Oil changes, brake repair, tire rotation and eventual replacement, windshield wiper blades and batteries.  Here in Florida, probably due to the heat and humidity in summer, we have to replace batteries far more often than normal. And those are just the normal things that costcostcost but are expected.  Then there are the things you don't expect like "check engine" lights blinking on out of the blue.  And, of course,  there is no such thing as an inexpensive car repair. It just doesn't happen.  Then there is the gas to fuel the vehicle OR if you have an electric car the cost of getting the hole Plug-In set up in your garage (assuming you have one) and cost of replacement batteries which I understand is prohibitive. 

Eventually the day comes when the car must be replaced and then it all starts over again. It's like the longest con in the world. It never ends.  grrrrrrr.  No matter how careful you are, regardless of how perfectly you maintain it, somewhere along the way, something is, unexpectedly, going to go wrong and kapow, car trouble followed by a big bill.

Luckily for us, we live in a very walkable town which is unusual, in the US anyway, AND the weather is very nice right now.  If you gotta walk to the grocery store carrying home multiple heavy bags, it's nice to do it when the temps aren't screaming and the humidity is just a whisper. 

Luckier still is that we have a good repair garage where the people are really nice and good at what they do,  and that they are nearby so again, we can walk a drop off/pick up. I suppose it could be worse.  

But it could also be better.  Remember a very long time ago when most people did a lot of their own car maintenance and repairs?  Under any car hood sat an enormous engine in an even bigger space so there was room to easily work on a car. You could practically crawl inside of it.  Most of the tools required were things that people already had in their home took kit. And  the whole combustion engine thing was pretty straight forward. If this then that.  I remember not just my dad, but the entire neighborhood of dads and teenaged boys, tinkering away with their cars in the driveway on a sunny weekend.

Nowadays, cars are much smaller, more compact in design and it's tricky to even identify the various parts, let alone reach them to attempt any repair.  Additionally cars are basically giant computers on wheels now so the tools and knowledge you need to work on them is a whole different set.  It is unusual for anyone to even try to do much on their own cars these days. HOA's prohibit it even if you had the time, tools and talent.

It's a different world I suppose. For sure it's a different era but cars are just as big a pain in the arse as they were when they were first invented.  They are, and have always been, costly, sneaky, unreliable and needy. So very needy and demanding. Like Giant Metal Babies! grumpgrumpgrump.

Ok I'm over it now.  Hopefully the price tag won't be too frightening  and soon enough we will both have ready access  in the not too distant future.  Regardless, as far as my feeligns go, whenever I can, I will stick to walking, thank you very much.  Costs me nothin' and that is my favourite price.

Whatever shall I write about today? Care to venture a guess?  If you picked Photo Safari Report you would be correct! And for those of you counting, that means I did 3, count 'em, 3 blog posts this week!  Woohoo!  Of course last week I only did 1 so I suppose I'm making up for it. Balance in the Universe ya'll, it 's a real thing.

Even though the rest of this week was sunny and gorgeous, this particular hiking day started out, once again, grey and gloomy.  Yuck.  It was also windy, sprinkly and chilly.  Great.  But Joy and I didn't let that get us down. Nope.  We decided that since we probably weren't going to get any  terrific photos on such a wet and dreary day, we may as well go for broke. We drove all the heck the way to Port Charlotte (about 45 minutes away) to  walk around Ollie's Pond.  And since it's in the area we would also hit Pennington Park.  What the heck, why not?  So this Photo Safari Report will be the Pond and Park Hike.

I have to say that we were a bit disappointed in Ollie's.  In the past it was such a lovely walk, absolutely teeming with wildlife of all sorts.  But now it's overgrown, and needs to be dredged badly. The lack of care means less of a food source which in turn means less wildlife. Very Sad.  That said, Joy and I are troopers of the first order. We didn't let that get us down. We took every photo that there was to be had before moving on.

At Pennington we fared much better. Partly because Pennington seems to be better cared for but also because, at last the sun began to emerge now and again and at least some of the photos are beautifully and naturally lit.   I did the best I could in edit with the first set, but it's really and truly not the same. You will be able to tell as you watch the slideshows which photos are from which hike. 

Onward:

Let's begin with the birds, always a good place to start:

Next up, botanicals and this time I got a few wildflowers.  It's beginning to feel a lot like spring around here:

I think it's about time to throw a few Rando's in the mix now.   Looks like I've got everything from soup to nuts, or at least squirrels to canoes:

So ends the Pond and Park Photo Safari Report.  Hope you enjoyed!  We will try to come up with something even better for next time!  See ya then!

Boomers.  Millenials. Gen X. Gen Z.  When did the different generations acquire nicknames and who assigned them?   For reasons unknown I have difficulty remembering which generation goes by which title. It's sort of like the Kardashian girls,  I'm pretty sure I know all of the names  (I've certainly read and heard them often enough) but I'm not positive which name goes with which face.

Going to take a guess here and say that Boomers is the oldest group.  Most likely a shortened version of Baby Boomer which is post WWII.  And then maybe.... well hmmm.  Millennials probably has to do with the changing millennium which would be the year 2000 so since X comes before Z then the order must be 1. Boomers, Gen X, Millennials and Gen Z.  I'm fairly certain that's accurate but what happened to Y? Shouldn't there have been a Gen Y too? XYZ ...?

I am not a fan of this nicknamed generational separation thing.  I think it tends to create a bigger divide between generations than there already is.  Because there is a nice tidy handy dandy label, we can tuck everyone into their correctly aged box and assume that they, like everyone else in that box, is exactly the same. Nothing could be further from the truth.

There has always been a kind of gap, a line of separation, a divide between generations. But I think it's currently worse than it's ever been. I've been trying to figure out why.  I know it sounds ridiculous, but I largely blame the media.  Not only is there a tendency to sensationalize everything but since we are bombarded with media's opinions 24/7, there is no escaping it.

Naturally within each generation we share similar experiences, music, history and fashion which means, yes, we at least have first hand knowledge of those things in common. BUT our response and reactions to each of those things is different. Our ability to change and move forward is different. Our interests and personal histories are different.  We are not carbon copies of each other.  Which is hilarious thing to say because carbon copies themselves are such a thing of the past.  Just dated myself :)  I still "dial" a phone and "roll down" a car window too.  LOLOL

The reason this popped into my head today was that I keep getting these articles in my online feed like "Things Gen Z hates about Boomers", "Things Boomers do that Gen Z finds rude", "Things Gen Z finds confusing about Boomers".  Very Annoying Articles. 

I read the first few.  Why?  Because I am always interested in learning new things AND in improving myself.  I don't read them anymore tho because the articles were less informational and more inflammatory.

Apparently one of the things that we oldsters do that really bothers youngsters today is...........get ready for it........we use punctuation.  The actual quote from one of the young people with regard to our insistence on using punctuation is that it "is really offensive when I see all that unnecessary punctuation".   Interesting.  That part where punctuation is offensive to him out kind of made me chuckle.  You have a very low 'offensive' threshold my friend.  And as far as punctuation being unnecessary, there is a huge difference between, "Let's eat, Grandma" and "Let's eat Grandma".   And if you don't see the difference in those two sentences, we need to talk.

Another thing that, so I read, truly drives young people up a wall is the fact that I write my grocery list on paper instead of typing it into my phone.  Why on earth would that matter to you? I am not asking you to write your list on paper.  I'm not handing you my handwritten list on paper and asking you to shop from it.  I'm over here, quietly writing and shopping all by myself.

The other thing I remember on the list that young people hate is our clumsiness with technology.  Ok I will cop to that one.  I am not the most technologically advanced person out there. On the other hand, I think, for someone who as a child considered the idea of personal computers and cell phones to be science fiction, I do pretty well.  And I continue to learn.  On purpose!

Perhaps young people forget that someday they will be the outdated change resistant old folks who the new young generation makes fun of and has no patience with.  It's inevitable. It's happened since the beginning of time. The only difference now, as far as I can tell, is that now the generations have names.

I will say that the gross generalizations regarding those words: Gen X, Millennials and so forth, go in both directions and that's wrong too.  The assumption that ALL kids today have no work ethic is unfair. The claim that ALL Gen Z-ers are entitled and have an unrealistic expectation of life is based on a few frankly outrageous stories that the media just loves to shove at us. 

I have no doubt that some Boomers are judgmental and closed minded the same way I'm sure some Gen Z-ers are addicted to their cell phones and have crazy short attention spans.  But by the same token,  some old folksre brilliant with technology  and some young people are focused and determined. 

This isn't one size fits all. We are all individuals. We all have purpose, value, skills to share and things to learn.  I think what is needed instead of snazzy sound bite labels is more respect in both directions. Aretha sang it.  Let's live it.  Be open to change and be open to learning from everyone we meet, older and  younger.  Let's try to be patient with ourselves and each other.  And above all else let's be a little more respectful to everyone in our lives. 

 I honestly think that'll help a bit with the divide.  If nothing else, it certainly can't hurt.

This past Thursday, as per usual, Joy and I headed out to hike and we were very excited because one of our favourite hiking spots, Carlton Reserve and FINALLY re-opened!  Yayayayayay!

On the other hand, we could not ignore that fact that the lighting was terrible.  It wasn't just a matter of it being early morning. Nope it was Very cloudy and Very Grey and for the longest time, it seemed like there was some sort of barricade up in the sky refusing to allow even a single beam of light through.   Eventually, there was an occasional. random ray of sunshine that managed to fight it's way through and that helped tremendously.  By the time we were nearly done, at last we had blue sky and sunshine yayayay! From the two photos above you can see clearly that the natural lighting in the photo on the right - which was most of the hike - is seriously substandard especially compared to the photo on the left which was the tail end of the hike. Oh well.

However, since the majority of our time was spent attempting to take photos in very poor lighting conditions,  most of my shots looked a lot like this:  (and this is having attempted to edit in as much light as possible!!)

Not Good.  I believe that I deleted more photos from this hike than ever before in the history of Sam.  How many photos of indistinguishable blobs do you care to look at?  Not many is my guess. Which means this Photo Safari Report will be called,   the Silhouette Hike.

It was still a good time, please don't get me wrong.  We ended up with a few good shots, a decent number of miles on our sneakers and a few good giggles which always makes it worthwhile.  Heck if we had come home with no photos at all it still would have been a great time :)

By far and away, the coolest thing we saw was a juvenile Eagle.  I'm not sure I ever saw one before.  Honestly, I would have thought it was just some bird I'd never heard of (there are lots of those) but nope, turns out it's an eagle, just a teenager eagle:

Captured a goodly number of woodpeckers of one sort or another.  We saw at least 4 different types but I think I only got photos of 3 and only two of those came out at all. Oh well.  Still a bird so it counts!

And of course some other birdies:

Not many botanicals for you today.  But of course I"ll give you what I've got :

And............................that's it!  That's all I've got for you on this "Silhouette Hike".  Hopefully the next hike with be on a lovely sunny day and I'll have all sorts of exciting things to share!

​Stay warm, stay safe and have fun 'til we meet again!

Let's start out this week on a great note.

It's time for another Photo Safari Report and this time I'm just going to jump to the biggest and best surprise of the entire hike, this sweet little raccoon.  Look at that cutie face!!  As he (or she) was definitely my favourite part of the hike, I will call this the Cutie Face Hike! 

Joy was the first one to spot this adorable critter crossing the tail in front of us. I was off to one side looking at something different and nearly missed it entirely.  Joy softly said, "raccoon" behind me so I turned and saw something rush across the trail and into the brush.  I had to peer behind and beneath other foliage but managed to get this photo which, while not perfect, definitely explains the sensible caution of the raccoon but I think also projects how non-threatening we try very hard to be.  He (or she) felt safe enough to pause and look at us with curiosity from the safety  of the overgrowth and that makes me very happy. Our goals, always, while hiking with our cameras are first to spend time together, then to get some exercise in the great outdoors, and lastly to get some decent photos while NOT terrorizing the wildlife.

Now I'll back up to the beginning.  When we first set out upon this explore, we saw, well, not much.  The preserve itself was of course, stunning, so I had kind of accepted that this was going to be mostly a botanical hike.  Ain't nothin' wrong with that.  Here's some of the best of those sorts of photos:

Oddly, just as I was going to give up, replace the lens cap on the camera and sling the strap over my shoulder to just enjoy the hike with no more photos, we began to slowly see birds. Including one I had never seen before, (Joy had but I had not so it counts as new to me!)

Speaking of new and unexpected things that we saw, there was this giant round metal thing, looked like a short silo(?) out rusting to death in the forest beginning to be covered with leaves and vines, a turtle surfing on a large stick and several squirrels, one on the beach. Oh, and a few butterflies:

The young raccoon was absolutely the best part of the hike for me but it was all simply grand!  I guess that kind of wraps up the CutieFace Hike.  Hope you enjoyed it!  

Wish you all a Wonderful Week!

Thank you all for your lovely well wishes.  As you can see from this morning's photo of Brysco, he did very well through his surgery and is recovering remarkably quickly.  He is slowly returning back to his old self being sweet and silly and up to his old shenanigans.

You see him here at the window spying on the neighbors, one of his favourite hobbies.  He also wrestles with his brother, greets us at the door when we've been out of the house for any amount of time, inspects all packages that come into the house,  races in and out of the various kitty tunnels and cubes chasing things that are invisible to us, gently wakes me each morning by tapping me with his paw and lately, has decided that the garbage can in Tim's office is the perfect place to nap.  Cats are so weird.

It is such a relief to see him happy, healthy and not in pain anymore.  The lack of teeth don't seem to be hampering him much.  It took him a few days to figure out how to eat efficiently but he seems to have it down now and is making up for lost time with an appetite far larger than his size.

The doctor explained that the way Feline Stomatitis works is it tricks the body into believing that teeth are the enemy, a foreign object in the body and the body, naturally, does everything in its power to get rid of that foreign object.   Once the "foreign object" is gone, the problem is gone.  Luckily, his canines (the fangs) and his front teeth were unaffected so he got to keep those.

When I first brought him home after surgery, he was of course still heavily medicated and staggering around like an adorable, furry drunk.  The instant he was let out of the carrier, he made a wobbly bee-line for the litter box (such a good boy) then he stumbled his way to his food mat and sat, swaying a little,  waiting to be fed.  Because we thought ahead, we had some babyfood on hand and put down a dish of that.  He plunged into it straight away, nearly face planting and gobbled up as much as possible with his numb mouth, which is to say that he made one heck of a mess.

No worries, easily cleaned up.  He ate until he could hold no more and then, finally, greeted us each in turn.  First his brother who was sitting there patiently waiting. Then he went to Tim and purred on his ankles and happily received pets.  Finally he made his weaving way to me where he looked at me with those dinner plate sized medicated eyes and pointedly turned his back.  oh ho!  Message received.  I was the one who took him to and from the vet so he made sure I knew he was angry with me.

By the next day, most of the medication had worn off, including the gentler pain medication so he laid low most  of the time, napping, eating and healing, but he made it a point to come to me sweetly requesting a pets.  I have been forgiven.  Nice to know he doesn't hold a grudge. At  least not for long.

And now, he is, as I said, back to his old self:  goofy, loving, funny, curious and endlessly entertaining.   His brother Wyatt is delighted to have his playmate back and we are  overjoyed that he is healthy and happy once again.

Tim's office will need a new garbage can however, because Brysco as claimed the old one.

 

I wish you all a wonderful weekend!  I know that some parts of the country are getting terrible cold, ice, freezing rain and snow!    Yucky!  Please stay warm and stay safe!

I'll be back next week with a Photo  Safari Report.  Joy and I went for a terrific hike yesterday and I cannot wait to tell you all about it!

Hugs all 'round

So this is our sweet baby Brysco. One of the Kittyboy gang.  He is silly and sweet and funny and we do love him. (and his brother Wyatt to of course, but this is about Brysco specifically)

You may, or may not, recall that about 4 months ago we found out that Brysco had an inherited dental disease called Stomatitis.  People can have stomatitis too, things like canker sores are one of the indications.  And while it's painful and annoying in people it's far, far worse when it's the feline version.

He had been doing so well once he recovered from his first surgery last October and we were encouraged and relieved.  He was back to his high energy, total gooberish old self for a long time.  He put on a little weight, his fur was shiny and soft and he and Wyatt romped and played with abandon.  It was a joy to see.

And then, very recently, we noticed that he wasn't playing so much. We could tell that, even though he was still eating, he was beginning to lose weight, his fur wasn't quite as lustrous, and his energy level was decreasing just a bit.  Even though I hated to admit it, every mom-instinct in me was screaming "something is wrong".

So last Thursday back he went to the vet to see if my gut was correct. Sadly, it was. Poor baby Brysco will be having another surgery tomorrow morning.  I'm sure all will go well and he will be fine.  In the best case scenario, this will be the LAST surgery he will need. 

As a parent, and let's face it, our cats are like furry children to us, we feel terrible when they feel bad.  If they are sick, we fret and dote on them; if they are sad, we are heartbroken for them and give them extra pets and hugs; if they are in a mood, we try to jolly them out of it; and when they need surgery, we worry!  

As I say, I'm sure all will be well but it never hurts to have a little extra positive energy, or should I say, Pawsitive energy heh, coming his way. So if you have a moment and care to, please wish Brysco the very best outcome and a quick recovery.  He is a very good kitty who has been dealt a bad hand. He deserves the best we can give him.

Will keep you posted tomorrow after surgery. Thanks!