Friday, September 12, 2008

Show Me: A View and Something that Relaxes Me

Robert at Thoughts of a Father is trying his hand at a photo meme. He has named it Show Me and each day he will ask us to "show him" a photo relating to a specific request. I skipped yesterday in favor of letting my 9/11 post stand alone, so I'm going to do two days in one again. I don't know that these three things represent my favorite view - I already posted the view out my back door (see show me your kitchen) and have posted elsewhere the park-like yard across the street. Instead, I've chosen three small things that delight my eyes on a regular basis. As for things that relax me... well, when Angel isn't driving me crazy doing something naughty she give the best hugs in the world and when Tara Grace isn't yelling at me she has the loudest rumble and the sweetest spirit you could wish for. They give me joy. They are my kids. I considered taking a page from Robert's book and letting them stand as both my favorite view and something that relaxes me, but... I had already uploaded these other four yesterday so...

This tree trunk is what I see if I look straight (well, almost straight - if I look straight I see a wall) ahead. There are often squirrels running up the trunk, sometimes a woodpecker and often wonderful sunlight. I love that stone wall too. Hancock is famous for it's blue stone quarries. I think that's what it's called.

One of the aforeomentioned squirrels looking very cute.

And many mornings if I look up at the sky, I see the turkey vultures circling. When I look out the back door in the mornings, I often see their shadows. Keep wishing I could figure out how to capture the shadows on film but haven't figured it out yet.
I love this birch tree. It's in my neighbor's yard and I think its just one of the most beautiful trees ever. Not my best photo of it, but I (well, my friend Nate did it, actually) moved all my photos into a new external hard drive and I haven't quite got a handle on getting them from there to here yet.


This is Tara Grace. As I'm typing this she is running around the room playing with a little mylar toy. She's so darn cute when she plays. She has come such a long way since being rescued. I'm repeating myself from other posts, but Tara moves like a ballerina and talks like a long shore-man. Here is some very modest (she's MUCH MUCH MUCH louder) footage of her.

Angel has the face of an innocent - and the spirit of an innocent - just a very very very very very creatively naughty innocent. My friend E. - who has many, many cats - took care of Angel and Tara Grace when I was in limbo in a motel before the deal on my house finally got settled (long horrible story). Anyway. E always says that having Angel around was like having another 11 cats. If she can't find mischief she invents it. And then she gets all snuggly and gives you a hug so you forget that you want to wring her little furry neck.

14 comments:

Carletta said...

Ah Raven, I love this post.
You know that I'm relaxed watching the wildlife and your squirrel photo is so cute. Of course kitties are the best even at their worst.
However, this birch photo is so serene - I love their white bark. This was an excellent shot.

Bazza said...

We too have squirells (and I'm never sure if I've spelt it right) they are cute to look at but play havoc with the bird feeders. I love your shot of the Turkey Vultures.

Dianne said...

I love the little red reflector thingie peeking out from behind the tree!! as though it's playing hide and seek lol

and of course there is no such thing as enough kitty pics :)

Dr.John said...

I'm glad your cats relax you. A good pet should do that.

Cris said...

That is indeed relaxing, especially the squirrels which cannot be found where I live, I used to take time just to watch them around when we lived in the US...

Dianne - Bunny Trails said...

What a great post. The little squirrel is just adorable. The views you've shared are always so pretty. And the cats, well, they're wonderful of course. Sounds a bit like ours - love her and she makes us crazy. But isn't that a cat's job?

Anndi said...

The last picture suckered me in totally.

ellen b. said...

Hi Raven,
These are great relaxing scenes! I love the squirrel shot you go and the kitty...
Have a great weekend..

brittaffeldt said...

That squirrel is adorable!!

Jeanne Damoff said...

Hi, Raven! I'm just now getting around to visit the folks participating in Robert's challenge. I looked through all your pictures and read your stories. When I read about your kitchen I expected a disaster zone, but it looked pretty normal to me. :)

My favorite shot of all is the backlit one of your kitty, Tara Grace. I love backlighting, and what a sweet composition to that shot.

Gattina said...

Apparently we both do the same for relaxing .... watching our cats ! They are really very cute, such a sweet face !

Robin said...

You always have such wonderful animals in your back yard.

Robert said...

Such great views here. I'm glad you shared many. The birch tree reminds me of the one we had at the top of our driveway in the house I lived in as a young boy. It brings back memories. And I love love love the squirrel shot.

Anonymous said...

Hey man I totally loved your idea of relaxing and I loved all the pictures and my favourite one was the cat one she was looking very cute