Native Grass

Posted by dkrashb on January 30, 2013

Grass seed heads on a dead leaf

When Tisen and I walk the park, we pass an area planted with grasses that are apparently native to Tennessee. I don’t know if they grow in Ohio–I don’t recognize them.

They grow in tall bunches and produce lovely seed heads that look decorative from late summer all the way through winter. In the spring, the park landscape crew clears out the dead grass and they grow fresh green sprouts and start all over again.

Tisen is fond of these grasses. They have the obvious attraction of providing a place to leave his scent that’s fairly high off the ground. This, however, creates a problem related to the second reason Tisen is fond of these grasses: he likes to scratch himself by throwing his body against them and/or swaying his rear end back and forth under their curving stems in a weird sort of move that makes one wonder exactly what his intentions are.

Now, the problem is in that he’s rubbing himself against the very same grasses he has previously . . . uh . . . watered. Fortunately, he has the wisdom not to water and rub in the same place. He wants to leave his scent behind, not carry it off on himself. However, as I mentioned, we walk the park 3 times a day. He doesn’t really keep track of where he “watered” on the previous walk. As such, we sometimes return from walks with a slightly smelly dog, but at least not a wet one.

In any case, a handful of seed heads from these grasses had fallen onto the sidewalk. Since those still attached to the grass were blowing around a rates of speed that just weren’t going to work for a macro shot, I set up my tripod and camera so the lens was pointed down and directly over the seed heads on the sidewalk. No sooner than I got completely set up, my four-legged photographer’s assistant decided to stand on my subject.

So, for this particular shot, I arranged the seed heads. I picked up one strip of seed heads along with a dark brown dead leaf and laid them down on the sidewalk where Tisen wouldn’t step on them.

They look better against the dark brown leaf than they would have on the gray sidewalk, so I guess Tisen really was assisting. At least he didn’t eat them.

Tisen is actually a very good assistant. Most of the time. He patiently waits while I shoot. He usually doesn’t walk on the subject unless it’s for a good reason. And, he makes me feel perfectly safe walking around a park late on a winter afternoon carrying my equipment.

To tell the truth, I’ve always thought my gear would make a pretty good weapon in a worst case scenario, but I feel like I won’t have to risk damaging my camera with Tisen around. Although, I’m not sure how seriously people take him as a protector when he’s carrying his yellow duck in his mouth.

Fondness

Posted by dkrashb on January 19, 2013

Ahh. Sunshine. I guess it’s true that absence makes the heart go fonder. After so many days of rain, the sudden appearance of the sun was almost shocking. It started Thursday evening around sunset. A break in the clouds allowed the sun to poke through. The bank of clouds on their way out of town traveled quickly across the sky as the sun sank toward the horizon.

I can’t remember the last time I was so glad to see the sun, even if it was calling it a night.

Black and White Version

This created something of a photographic challenge. The clouds were dark and moving fast. The great dilemma between getting enough depth of field to shoot the whole scene and needing a fast enough shutter speed to freeze the clouds. The only way to achieve this is with a very high ISO setting. That means some noise I’d rather not have.

Much like life, photography is an attempt to balance alternatives to get the best possible result since you can’t get exactly what you want.

But the glimpse of the sun made up for it. It reminded me 2 lines from a poem a friend recently shared on Facebook:

I wish you enough sun to keep your attitude bright.

I wish you enough rain to appreciate the sun more.

I started appreciating the sun more about 4 days in–the next 10 days of rain were overkill. However, after a 2 week separation, I was about as grateful as it gets for sunshine.

Setting Sun in color

I wonder if Tisen feels this way when I’m gone? He seems just as excited when I return after taking 5 minutes to check the mail as when I’ve been gone for over an hour. But when I’m gone for days, he goes absolutely nuts. It’s like he’d given up hope and my sudden reappearance throws him into an uncontrolled frenzy.

I wonder how dogs keep track of time? Tisen seems to keep a regular schedule during office hours. He gets up once I’ve made my coffee. He’s like clockwork about noon when he decides it’s time for his mid-day walk. And he never fails to start pestering me to walk and feed him at the end of the day, although sometimes he gets started a little early.

But when it comes to the last walk of the day, he doesn’t seem to notice at all. He’s content to lay on the sofa with us until well past his bedtime. Conversely, if I walk into the bedroom, he goes to bed. He does this with no regard to the time of day.

On weekends he doesn’t seem to have any sense of time at all. He will sleep in later than I can on some Saturdays. It’s almost as if he doesn’t believe I’m up and making coffee if he didn’t hear an alarm go off first.

Ah well, maybe that’s why a dog’s years are so much longer–they lose track of time.

Fading light

Tisen and Twiggy

Posted by dkrashb on January 10, 2013

Tisen and Twiggy decide to raise their heads long enough for a photo op

Over the holidays we had one of our favorite guests–Twiggy. Twiggy is also a favorite of Tisen’s.

Some say that dogs have the intelligence of about a 2 year old human. But if flirting techniques are any indicator, I’d say Tisen performs at the level of a 7 or 8 year old. His favorite way to get Twiggy to pay attention to him is to stick a toy in her face and then make growly noises at her. It’s like the little boy who keeps pulling a little girl’s hair.

Twiggy is the master of hard-to-get. She ignores Tisen unless she feels like demonstrating that females are not the weaker sex. She nips at Tisen’s legs when she wants to engage. He invariably turns and mouths her neck. She body-blocks him, using her height to her advantage, and then reaches around to grab hold of him with her mouth and knock him to the ground. She often flips him completely onto his back.

Tisen, like the 7-year old human, is grateful for any attention Twiggy gives him. He’s happy to wrestle with her even if he loses. I sometimes imagine he loses on purpose so Twiggy will like him more. But, in reality, Twiggy is better at wrestling.

The two of them bound toward one another like a reuniting Heathcliff and Katherine after a separation. But, more like one of those funny commercials, Twiggy invariably switches direction at the last second and runs to me instead of Tisen. This makes Tisen doubly jealous–both his favorite canine and his favorite human paying attention to someone else. But, he can’t be too jealous–he loves us both.

Every time Twiggy comes to stay, she and Tisen seem to get a little cozier. They went from taking turns sleeping on the sofa while the other slept on the floor, to each choosing an opposite end of the sofa, to now curling up together in the same spot. Sometimes, the spot is me. I wish I’d figured out how to take pictures of this–they piled up on top of me like I was part of the furniture. At one point, Tisen was literally straddling Twiggy while she was laying in my lap.

Tisen lifts his head from Twiggy’s back when he sees my camera

Making a puppy pile seems to be quite comfortable for them. As for me, I seem to end up with bruises from foot steps, sharp elbows, and hard heads. But, I have to admit, it’s so cute that I don’t discourage this behavior.

Another change has been the stealing of beds. Each dog wants to be in the other dog’s bed. But, as soon as the other dog is in a bed, that’s the one the other dog wants. This time around, they eventually shared a bed.

I’m not sure I was supposed to let them sleep together, but I figured they were old enough to make up their own minds. Besides, they’re old enough that all they wanted to do was sleep.

Tisen and Twiggy stopped fighting over the bed and decided to share it

Happy 2013!

Posted by dkrashb on January 1, 2013

I have just finished ringing in the new year. For some folks, the new year comes as a surprise. They were expecting the world to end on the 21st or there-abouts. We were all supposed to be done before we had the chance to ring in the new year of 2013.

It’s my sincere hope that all those who thought the world was truly coming to an end will feel welcomed and included in the new “off-the-grid” year. After all, I don’t care if you thought the world would end of not. I only care if we can peacefully co-exist together. You were wrong this time, but, who knows, you might be right next time. I don’t wish to point the finger at you and ask if your mother was ugly.

On the flip side, I don’t want to miss out on toasting the new year, either.

I’m happy that the ball dropped and the new year came in just as it has for many decades now. While the end of the planet might have been more dramatic, rolling over to a new year with a new lease on life seems a whole lot more promising to me.

Now, if only I could stay awake late enough to write something really meaningful about us . . .

Since that doesn’t seem to be an option, here are some really cool fireworks shots that might help fill the gap when it comes to ringing in the new year:

Winter at Point Park

Posted by dkrashb on December 31, 2012

We had the wonderful experience of having dear friends come down for a post-Christmas visit (a little more post than planned due to a blizzard hitting the midwest the day they were planning to leave).

We picked a couple of highlights to share since they only had a day and a half after the storm cleared out enough for them to come on down. Of course, we took them to Point Park.

It’s one of those places that meets many criteria for many different people. For those who want an outdoor adventure, there are dozens of hiking trails through the woods to spectacular overlooks. For those who want a nice easy stroll, there’s a ¼ mile paved loop around the top of the point that doesn’t even require climbing a step. And it still offers spectacular views. The list of increasingly challenging things to see goes on–basically, any level of physical activity or lack there of can be achieved and all levels are rewarded with amazing views of Chattanooga, Moccasin Bend, and even down into Georgia.

Pat and George pose for me in front of the overlook above Moccasin Bend

For the history buff, there are lots of Civil War memorials and information about some of the events of the Civil War related to this location. I’ve come to have a new respect for the Civil War living down here–I find myself growing more and more interested in the battles in the area.

Georgia, Paris, and Bonnie pause briefly in front of the memorial at Point Park

Our visiting friends included my bestie, Georgia, her equally wonderful husband George, (yes, George and Georgia) and two of their fur-kids, Paris and Bonnie. We were also sitting for Twiggy, and, we, of course, had Tisen. Having 4 dogs created a few logistical challenges, but it actually worked out quite well.

Twiggy and Tisen spent a day at doggy daycare together (which Tisen enjoys much more with his buddy Twiggy to play with) while Paris and Bonnie went exploring with us. Having 4 dogs and 4 humans in one mini-van just seemed like a bit much.

Remainders from the war, these canons still stand guard over Moccasin Bend

The last time we walked the loop at Point Park it was about 110 degrees. This time, it was in the 30’s, the sky was spitting at us, the wind was whipping us around, and the sun was no where to be seeing. I liked this weather better than the 110 degree day. But, with no umbrellas and the sky looking increasingly threatening, we walked quickly and skipped the jaunt out to the point. It was still beautiful–I never know if I like this park so much because of the views of because of the special people I’ve had the pleasure of taking there?

Returning to the car, we all had the same thought on our minds–we were uncomfortable in our high-tech winter coats with fleece and down and our warm, waterproof boots. We tried to imagine living through the war in wool coats and boots full of holes (if you had either).

I just like this image–the boys having fun together

We went home feeling more than a little spoiled.

Ascending Stone Door

Posted by dkrashb on December 30, 2012

Having descended as far as we were willing to climb and absorbed the scenery, we decided to start back up to the top of Stone Door. We started our way back up the steep ascent.

Scrambling back up the fallen outcropping proved easier in terms of keeping our footing, but more difficult when it came to heart rate and breathing. I was quickly reminded that I haven’t been spending much time on my bike of late.

Truthfully, there is not much that seems to prepare my body for steep climbs other than, well, steep climbs. Every time I take the steps, I am reminded that riding a bike, rowing a sculling boat, doing yoga, and walking are not really comparable exercises.

This day, I was reminded that only stair climbing is good preparation for ascending steep slopes. I am not fond of stair climbing. I’d much rather climb a steep hill out of breath than spend hours going up indoor stairs in preparation.

When we reached the first plateau, we stopped. I pretended to want to take more shots of the cliffside above us. I really just wanted to catch my breath. But, the cliffside was fascinating. The volume of rock that had fallen next to the volume of rock still standing made my knees feel a little weak contemplating what it would be like to be standing on top of the overlook when it suddenly caved away. I hope no one was there the day the rocks fell.

A chunk of the cliff fell in what must have been the same position it was in at the top

This chunk of cliff must have fallen long ago to have been reshaped into a smooth mound

The natural overlook at the top of Stone Door framed between the trees

We continued slowly up the rest of the ascent. I’ve learned that racing up steps doesn’t pay. Racing leads to having to stop for long recovery times. A slow steady pace allows the heart and lungs to keep up so the turtle passes the hare. I learned this when hiking in the Rockies. In my twenties, my friends and I sped past a woman who was probably the age I am now only to be passed by her when we were all sucking wind later. We repeated our folly, passing her and being passed again 3x before reaching the end of our hike. She finished well ahead of us. That’s when the lesson sunk in.

We made it back up the wooden stairs and slowly made our way up the slippery, dripping stone steps through the stone door. I paused at the top to take a shot of the pitcher-handle tree at the entrance.

This crazy tree marks the entrance to the Stone Door

Having worked up a sweat, we decided it was a good time to find a flat rock to sit on and have our picnic lunch. We stayed much further back from the edge of the overlook this time–the image of that overhang was still fresh in my mind. While we feasted on our wild-caught smoked salmon, carrot sticks, and apples, the dogs chewed happily on pigs ears. Tisen had to be convinced it was edible. But once he got a good grip on it, he was sold. Good thing–he’s allergic to salmon.

Tisen enjoys a tasty treat at the top of Stone Door

Descent Below Stone Door

Posted by dkrashb on December 29, 2012

Once we reached the bottom of the Stone Door, we continued downward beyond both sets of manmade stairs. If we’d been feeling more in shape, we might have gone all the way to the bottom of the valley. However, it was Christmas Day and we weren’t prepared to make the return climb back up, so we limited our descent to a distance we could comfortably climb back up.

The path went through fallen outcroppings of rocks. Rough natural steps were formed (or maybe occasionally placed) from the fallen limestone. But the steps were uneven with cracks and slippery spots. I nearly fell on more than one occasion while working my way down one of the larger rocks. All I could think was “protect the camera.”

When we reached the point we decided would be the end of our descent, we stopped and looked back. The outcropping we’d been standing on earlier looked a little more frightening in the context of the enormous chunk of fallen rock we’d just scrambled down–particularly when we saw just how much that overlook juts out from the cliffside.

An example of a rock shelf that looks like it will slide off down the hill at any time

Looking back at the overlook we’d been standing on, we realize how much of an overhang their is

So much of the stone looked like it was precariously perched, just waiting for the wind to pick up enough speed or water to pour down hard enough or lightening to strike or a few too many hikers to jump up and down on the overlook to break free and find its way down to the valley below.

Tisen and Twiggy were unimpressed by the scene. They were busy searching through the leaves for interesting new scents. Did they find evidence of a bear? Perhaps just a deer. Whatever smells they found, they buried their noses in them and wagged their tails feverishly.

Thankfully, Pat had them back on leashes and was able to keep them from running off on down the valley tracking whatever scent they’d picked up. To be honest, Twiggy probably knew exactly what scent she’d found–she’s a true hunter. Tisen was more likely to just be imitating Twiggy, going through the motions, trusting that Twiggy had found something really good.

We stood gazing at the fallen rocks with trees growing out of them and tried to guess how long those rocks have been lying there. I have no idea how to guess how old the trees decorating them are–they could be 20 years or 100 years old. The rock no longer looks like a disaster scene but rather like it’s settled into the earth it met with some time ago. The sharp edges have softened and fissures have opened in the rock, allowing for more trees to grow.

I like this metaphor. A big crash that seems like total destruction creates a place for new life to flourish. Lichens cover the rocks. Leaves decompose on and around the stone, creating rich new soil. The rock collects and redirects water into the fissures, watering the seeds the have fallen in the cracks. Life reclaims the fallen and uses them anew.

Through the Stone Door

Posted by dkrashb on December 28, 2012

When we went to Stone Door for our Christmas hike, we decided to go a bit further than the last time we visited. On our previous trip, we had a second hike scheduled and didn’t have a lot of time to spend at Stone Door.

This time, having no other destination and not having worked up an appetite for lunch yet, we decided to take the steps down through Stone Door to see what it was like from below.

The steps, I’m sure, have been improved since ancient civilizations used them long ago. The rocks look to have been cut and placed for easier access. This does not, however, make them an easy descent. Especially not with two dogs on leashes. Fortunately for me, Pat took the dogs ahead and carefully made his way down the steps while I took some shots from above.

Twiggy takes the lead down the Stone Door steps

Pat holds on to the Stone Door frame while working his way down with the dogs

The way down was made more treacherous by the water dripping on the rocks. Slippery in places, steep, and uneven, I had trouble making it safely while protecting my camera from dripping water. Good thing Pat had the dogs.

At the bottom of the stone steps, I paused to take a shot back up the crevice. The “pitcher handle” at the top of the steps is a misshapen tree that looks like it might have been one of the forces that originally pried apart the rocks (not really, but its shape is pretty mysterious).

A tree forms a pitcher handle at the top of the Stone Door steps

The stone steps only took us down about 50 feet or so. The river at the bottom of the valley was still well below and out of sight. We continued down a bit further, curious to see if we would have a view of the river.

Once through the Stone Door, a big chunk the rock face has slid down the mountain, leaving a flat spot. The park added wooden stairs for the next section of the descent.

At the bottom of the Stone Door, wooden steps make for easier access

We had a bit of a dog logistics issue at this point. About half way down the stone steps, Pat had let the dogs off their leashes, feeling it was safer for all. They decided to go around the wooden stairs and headed off on a rock that came to a dead end over a big drop. I got a little frantic that they were getting close to the edge and in calling them, caused Tisen to panic and, instead of meeting us at the bottom of the stairs, which would have been easiest, he decided to leap up the 4-foot retaining wall to get back to my side as quickly as possible. He did a belly flop into the wall on the first attempt. He made it the second time and showed no signs of injury, so we allowed ourselves to snicker a little.

Tisen flopped into the retaining wall trying to jump back up to get to the top of the steps

We all made it to the bottom of the stairs together safely. We stood for a few minutes looking back at the rock face we had just come through. I imagine the stories if it could talk!

Straight, even, and not slippery, the second section of the descent went much more smoothly

Photostreaming

Posted by dkrashb on December 24, 2012

Tisen has adopted a human style of sleeping.

Tisen isn’t fussy when it comes to what he’s willing to use as a pillow.

Tisen can’t decide whether to give in to his desire for a belly rub or his need to protect me from this stranger. He splits the difference by rolling over while growling.

Tisen seems to have gotten things reversed with his rear end high on a pillow.

Twiggy manages to curl up with the computer.

Twiggy, Tisen, and Pat all curl up for an afternoon siesta.

Well, here we are, getting settled in our new home. Today, we spent a couple of hours this morning cleaning our old apartment and gathering up the last remnants of our life there. Pat hauled 3 cart loads out to the van while I cleaned. We still have stuff in the storage rooms down the hall. That will have to wait until tomorrow. Or maybe even until after Christmas.

When we returned home, we worked on getting rid of the last of the packed boxes. We still don’t have a place for everything yet and the photos are scattered around on chairs waiting to be hung, but the unopened boxes are all gone and it’s starting to look like we really do live here.

The new place came with one big surprise we discovered our first night. When I got into bed, I had the sudden realization that a section of the building can see into our bed through a glass balcony door. While it’s probably only about 6 units that have a view, that’s 6 more units than I want peering into our bedroom.

As a temporary measure, we brought the shower curtain rod and curtain we’d been using in the bedroom as a closet door (it’s a long story) and hung that over the glass in the door. It looks great. The glass in the door is about 6 feet tall and the shower curtain is only 4. It’s also a black curtain and the building has a rule that all curtains have to be white on the outside. I’m hoping the blind comes in before anyone complains. In the meantime, at least we have a little privacy.

All of this “adjusting” has led to me not shooting for quite a while. In fact, it’s now been nearly two weeks since I last had my camera out on a shoot. This means I needed to come up with some photos to share today.

Thankfully, I have this wonderful feature called Photostream. By subscribing to Apple’s iCloud service, whenever I take/upload a photo on one device, it automatically appears on all my devices. That means all the silly photos I snap with my iPhone show up in Aperture on my macbook pro.

As it turns out, I have a whole collection of poor quality, but cute-as-a-button photos of my crazy dog and his girlfriend, Twiggy. Tisen has been on steroids again for a couple of weeks now. It makes him a little crazy. That and having the woman he loves staying with us day in and day out. He’s started showing off.

He doesn’t need to carry a toy with him when Twiggy is around. If he takes one with him, he drops it as soon as we get outside and won’t carry it after that. It’s as if he doesn’t think it’s manly.

While my iPhone photos don’t do the dogs justice, they still make me smile.

Oh, Christmas Tree

Posted by dkrashb on December 23, 2012

This very real looking artificial tree is easily 20 feet tall.

The tree is set and ready for the lines to start.

I love the lighted gifts hanging from the ceiling.

Twiggy’s rear end is just in the lower left. Tisen seems to want more lap time when Twiggy is around.

The bench is ready for Santa to come and visit with the children.

The bridge to the Asia exhibit makes for lovely lighting.

I’m glad I have the photos of the Chattanooga Zoo Christmas tree–it’s the closest I will come to a tree this year. Having given up long ago on decorating for Christmas because we were always gone for the holidays, we, of course, have decided to stay at home this year.

This is because we have just moved. We moved about 500 yards from one building to another. The new building is nicer with a little more space and a lot more quiet. But I’m not sure deciding to move on the Monday a week before Christmas was such a smart idea.

Even having downsized 3x, we still have boxes of stuff we don’t know what to do with. I don’t know how this happens. Furniture, papers, boxes multiple in the dark much like wire hangers and dust bunnies. Like goldfish, we grow to the maximum size the walls of our container will allow.

I suppose from that standpoint, right before Christmas is the perfect time to move–it’s a great reminder that we really don’t need these things that take over our space. Plus, having to buy a new washer and dryer, blinds, and closet organizers can serve as our Christmas gifts. The new washer and dryer just got installed this morning. Just in time–we were running out of clean unmentionables.

On the down side, the move motivated me to go shopping yesterday evening after work. I think it has been so long since I went shopping on the last Friday evening before Christmas that I had forgotten what that would be like.

I made it to the grocery store, the dog store, Target, and Lowes. I needed to go to Bed, Bath, and Beyond, but I couldn’t take it. My shopping tolerance was exceeded at Target and I still didn’t have any Christmas lights for our balcony, so I skipped getting towels and went to Lowes for a lighted garland instead. My homage to Christmas.

I nearly walked out of Target leaving my cart full of bulk toilet paper and miscellaneous supplies behind when I saw the lines. Fortunately, not everyone had figured out there were two rows of registers, so I was able to find a short line just in the nick of time. I really had had it by the time I got to that line.

The dogs were also starting to get impatient. As much as they love going along for a ride, they prefer not having to hang out in the car for too long. When I came out of Target, Tisen had taken up sentinel position in the driver’s seat. He looked very alert. This is usually a good indicator it’s getting close to dinner time.

Tonight, I look at the date and realize it’s almost the 23rd. I haven’t bought a single gift or even thought about doing cards yet. I guess my nephews won’t be getting their Christmas presents on time this year!

nomadicmainstream

Combining living on the road with a mainstream lifestyle

Category Archives: Dogs