life in the old lane

There I go again. Taking a crack at wildlife photography. 

Last week was sort of a lost week. Felt like nothing was accomplished. Nothing was started. Nothing was finished. Nothing was learned. 

This is a new week. Two people had easy computer issues. And I plowed through more photos from my Way North trip. 

Really glad that I went when I did because the Covid situation seems to be getting outta control again. Largely thanks to the assholes who refuse to get vaccinated. And, in some of our fine states, the legislatures have drastically limited the ability of the public health folks to do their jobs. If the current crop of humans were in charge during the 1950’s we would still have people dying of polio every summer.  

I always sort of suspected that I might watch the world end in a nuclear war. I never imagined I would watch it dumb itself to death. But, here I am.

Of course, there were no fine butterflies when I went out this afternoon hunting for them. You shoot what shows up, with the camera you have.

Wouldn’t you know? The day I go out for a little late afternoon walk armed only with my phone I would find a pipevine swallowtail.

Kyle took his game to the next level this afternoon. Would that we humans could have that option.  I’ll miss Kyle.  I will honor his memory by enjoying more naps.

Aside: Kyle wasn’t my cat. He was a dear friend’s cat. But, cats don’t really belong to anyone. 

I didn’t get anything done last. Well, beyond the normal activities necessary to sustain life. But, I just enjoyed a nice big fat peach for an afternoon snack. So, I guess it isn’t all bad. There were no nice big fat peaches last summer. So, I should stop bitching.

The crows really enjoy coming to lunch on our patio. 

Spent some time tweaking my garden boxes. One needs a complete do-over and the other two need some serious refreshing this fall and next spring. 

Off to the farmers market this morning. Tomatoes, peaches, cantaloupe, and some cheese.  

Not the sharpest tack in the box this evening. We had a “last” zoom wine tasting this afternoon. I was able to walk away and have a nice dinner with friends, but I sure don’t want to make any decisions. Or operate any “heavy” machinery.

The guy who does these wine tastings. He does them as a part of his job. He puts down his share of wine. I am just wondering: If Chef Brian wrecks his car on his way home from the office after a wine-zoom, is it covered by Worker’s Comp? 

Just realized that next week is the end of July. When you are old, sometimes the days creep by. But the months and years whiz past. 

The GoPro continues to deliver interesting shots. This is pretty great considering that it is about the size of a ping-pong ball and wasn’t built for still shots in the first place.

Today I was a total failure as an angel of death. I was going to help a friend through the process of having her oldest cat euthanized today. And get her other cat to and from the vet for routine cat-type maintenance. The day started in a car with two annoyed cats and two old women and ended up 10 hours later in a car with two pissed of beyond all recognition cats, two old women, and a dress in dire need of washing.  No cats were put down today. It was NOT a good day to die, I guess. The cat who was scheduled for deletion got 4 days of IV hydration in lieu of a shot of phenobarbitol. 

Gratitude

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Grateful to have the time to spend with a friend. With her cats. On a hard day for all 3 of them.

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Worked on culling, sorting, cataloging my trip photos. Today, I mostly worked on June 20, 2021. I went from Skagway to Juneau to Sitka. 

Skagway has gotten really serious about growing veggies. But, no time to look at tomatoes. Time to get out to the plane. No TSA. No baggage handlers. They do have a pilot. He said he had 2,000 hours of flying time. Not too reassuring.

Switched planes in Juneau to something pressurized. Basically the same message from the pilot. 

We arrive safely in Sitka. With our backpacks. Which the pilots loaded on and off the planes. 

Apparently, my “airline” makes more money flying dead fish around than it makes flying live passengers.  It also has large freezers at the airports it services and they rent freezer space for outrageous amounts to sport fishermen who want to fly the most expensive fish on the planet back to the lower 48.  

BTW: This little junket costs $338. I could round trip it from here to LA for $197. But, it wouldn’t be nearly as much fun.

Sort of a downer day at The Asylum. One of our longtime residents who was very involved in all manner of important activities at the Asylum is dying. As is a dear cat-friend of mine. Neither of these was unexpected. But, it is still a reminder that “Nobody is promised tomorrow”. Not even if you are a cat. 

Returning to the building this afternoon I found food outside. The dietitian was photographing it. So, what could I do but stick my camera in? I didn’t get any samples. 

That was pretty much the highlight of my day. That and surviving 2 exercise classes. 

Been thinking about being old way too much today. Just because I am old doesn’t mean I have to be old. Right?

Nothing noteworthy done today. But, I didn’t kill anybody. That’s something. 

This is one of my favorite “landscapey” pictures from my trip to Alaska. I am trying to have them all neatly culled and cataloged by the end of the month. Or maybe I just like it because I liked that day so very much.

That’s why I am not a landscape photographer.  

Had a great cheap Chinese dinner last night. I wildly overtipped the waitress, so if she is on duty, we will be welcomed back. Never mind that we are fussy little old ladies.  Most people deserve to be “overtipped”. 

The train to Vermont starts rolling again tomorrow. Maybe there is a trip to Vermont on tap? Bermuda and Hawai’i are still off the table.

Went on a very short excursion early this morning to see the lotus blossoms at nearby Green Springs Garden. For the occasion, I fired up my Olympus Pen-F.  No phone photos today.

These are huge plants. They bloom for a couple of weeks every July.

A little post-processing fun here. After shooting the lotus, we went off to the farm market. Where I got a bunch of tomatoes. And a fine shot of some mushrooms.

I spent what was left of the day eating tomatoes and resting. Don’t know what I was resting from. The weight of 77 years I guess. Going out for Chinese tonight. A day without Asylum food will be a very good day indeed.

No mistaking. It is summer. That really doesn’t bother me when I am here at the Asylum. It is supposed to be hot.

Sent the University of Vermont a bunch of money for the grand’s first semester of college. Makes me feel like a grownup. Finally doing something to help with the survival of the species. I certainly didn’t leave any humans to replace me when I am gone. (Remember: If you want grandkids all you have to do is marry a grandfather.)

And 21 years later.

 

I am not at all sure that the building hasn’t been moved. Buildings get moved around Skagway all the time. 

Sometimes, buildings even get cut up and moved. 

Too hot for bees at 4PM today. I went out to dump 3 gallons of water on one of my garden boxes. Seriously hot.

Gratitude

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Thank you, Messrs. Carrier and Otis. How would we survive summer without you?

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Big adventure today was getting a new MacBook Air going for a friend. She is very hard on computers. “Excessive” gaming. My computer is as old as hers. And, I think all it needs is a new battery $199 to be good to go for another couple of years. And at 77 that could well be the rest of my life.

What I really want is a new phone. Waiting to see what the Pixel 6 brings. I have the Pixel 2 and it no longer gets updates of any kind. Not even security updates. That sorta sucks.