Super Pit Bull Sunday
Some of the regular readers/viewers here may be aware of my the basis for Pit Bull Sundays, if not go here, find out if you want.
So as the last of these “official” Sundays, I offer up these two images of our Stella. Though somehow I’m betting we’re going to keep doing long walks with her every week. It really is one of the best ways I can think of to spend a day off.
The Colorado
This is the first in a series of posts that will be from a walk we took yesterday to the Colorado river. It was down a gorgeous slot canyon.
I’ll probably get in trouble for posting this photo, but hey, I’m a guy, this is life. I should note though, if the jeans look baggy, they look baggy on me and they’re my jeans, so they’re going to look huge on Erin. She is, when not wearing my clothes, a beautiful, slender woman of much attractiveness. (I think she is when wearing my jeans as well, but that’s a different point.)
Feet in the Sand
Sorry, I got nothing related to Halloween at this point. I will later today have lots of candy for the kids though, and hopefully they’ll leave none for me.
I don’t need the calories.
Fear of Heights
My Boston Terrier, Roxy, has the last week or so been developing a fear of heights. So we’ve had to carry her down some rock scrambles.
It’s a new thing. We’re trying not to let it become permanent.
Morning Walk
This one is from my morning walk and really shouldn’t have to wait in the line for it’s turn.
Seedlings
Saturday September 26th was National Public Lands Day. Nevada is something like 90% public lands, we figured we’d do something with the day.
Actually we found out about something to do on that day and then found out that it was National Public Lands Day.
I received an email talking about a wildlife restoration project an hour and a half north of Vegas near Amargosa at Ash Meadows National Wildlife Refuge. We would be planting native grasses.
See, this valley has a lot of natural springs in it, apparently about 10,000 gallons a minute pour out of the earth after having worked it’s way to this traveling underground from Utah. Upon discovering this, some wise man many a year ago decided that this would be a great place to farm cotton and cattle. Cotton…in Nevada…Really?
I never doubt the dumbness of humanity. Anyway, this person failed. Excellent. In the process though he totally wrecked the natural landscape and oasis. Hence, we planted.
Odd Man Out
So the reason I was actually in LA was that some of Erin’s family, her grandma and aunt, were flying in for the weekend. As it was going to be Erin, her grandma, aunt, and 3 female cousins, I tried to set it up so that once Erin was with them I could run away and do something else. Me and six chics? Yeah, that’s a run scenario.
I failed. I did get recruited/drafted (happily) to take photos of the day. That was fun and made it less awkward for me. The conversation was overall very good, and it was a very good day. We all got to talk about some of the hard things we’ve all been through lately.
So the family images you are going to see over the next week or so are from that day.
Because I Can CXIV
Some days I feel like things are out to get me. I don’t think I’m paranoid. I think.
July 7 2009 – Rest In Peace
Yeah, this post is two months later, and for good reason. I haven’t been talking about it much, not publicly at least, lots in private, but not publicly. It’s hard, still is, probably always will be.
As many of you know, either vaguely or specificly, my girlfriend Erin was due with our child, affectionately nick named Bean while in the womb, on Sept. 5th 2009.
I don’t feel like recounting the details. Sorry. Just don’t. Suffice it to say on the 5th of July a developmental problem was discovered that showed that Bean would be unable to survive outside the womb. There were complications endangering Erin’s health at this point and with the doctor’s counsel and consent labor was induced over the next several days.
On the morning of July 7th Beanie was still born.
I want Beanie to now, today, that I love her very much. I always will. I will always miss her. She brought a joy to my life I’ve never known and her loss has been huge to me, to us. I would never give up that time I had with her. Thank you Beanie.
——–
The following is what I wrote to her on that day an some photos of her:
Bean, 7/7/09 – 9:46am
3lbs
Beanie, we love you.
We loved you from the moment we found out you were inside Erin and we will love you to the day we die. You brought a joy and happiness to our lives that neither of us had ever experienced. We are sorry your time with us was so short, but we are so thankful and grateful for that time we got. You are a part of us, you are a part of our family, you always will be. We will never forget you. We will never stop loving you.
Thank you for sharing your life with us.
You will always be my sweet little girl.
My Thoughts of Late
This is totally personal. Lately I’ve been spending a lot of time thinking about one of my dogs, Roxy, my little 13lbs boston terrier.
She’s cute as all get out. She’s very sweet and loving. She’s loves to meet new people and explore. She can hike, anyplace my pit-bull can hike she can hike. It’s ridiculous the the slopes and rocks she can climb. And she is a crack addict for balls. She just loves playing with a ball. All the time. She’ll often sleep with it.
Friday she was out for a hike in the desert, normal enough, when she was bitten by a rattlesnake. A western diamondback Erin thinks. Whether Roxy was checking out something close to Erin to keep an eye on things, or was just found something new to smell we don’t know. What we do know is she got bit in the face.
Since then she’s been in the care of the vet. Things are still touch and go, she may not survive, but everyone seems hopeful that she will, she’s just not out of the woods yet.
I hope in a month she can go back to following me around the house as I do the mundane activities of life.
What’s Up?
So…some of you may be wondering, what’s up? It’s a somewhat short, but fairly intense story, it also goes better after a drink or two or forty-eight.
About 2 weeks was my last day at the company I had been at for the past 7 years. I was laid-off. Don’t feel bad, it’s a good thing. As several people have already noted to me, I had been sounding done with that place for over a year. I was. Time to move on.
The timing actually worked out fairly well. (If you haven’t started drinking here, and don’t know what I’m about to say, start drinking, it helps, trust me.) I’ve upped and moved to Vegas to live with my 4 month pregnant gal. Yep, I live in the Southwest now and have a kid on the way. Life is…interesting.
I’m still figuring out many things, like what my job is going to be as my industry is in the toliet. I don’t know a lot of things which are coming to me and my life. I do know I’m excited to for my future, far more excited than I have been in a long time. There are a lot of challenges ahead, no doubt, but I think they can all be solved, I just don’t know how yet.
As for my photography…I don’t know if I’ll be working in the photojournalism field anymore. I may be, I may not. Ultimately I want to be sure my bills are paid and my family is taken care of first. I couldn’t even take care of myself by the end of that old job. I will be taking photos, I don’t know of what, I don’t know when, I don’t know how, I just know I will. It’s my nature. I do know that by the end of my old job the images I was making weren’t the images I wanted to be making, the images that I wanted to be making were all being done on the side for me. With that in mind, I’m going to be able to keep making those images I want to make because I’ll make that happen.
So, a few photos, one of what I saw on December 27th, along with the confirmation tests.
A picture of where I live, I promise it’s in there and it’s taken from the mountain in the backyard.
And part of my new family, Esther (Erin’s mom’s dog), Motley and Stella. And the last photo is Roxy. They all like to sleep in my office while I work.
Because I Can LXVIII
Funniest part is that at this point in time she’s doing her photography homework reading while I played with her camera.