Pet Pride: my man's best friend

Lindy's favorite person is her daddy. Here he is sitting on the floor instead of in his recliner, holding her front paw while she sleeps on her ottoman.

Photo by Kay Davies

Posted for Pet Pride
hosted by Lindy's friend Bozo and his family in Mumbai, India.
Lindy says, "Hi, Bozo. This is my daddy. I love him sooooooo much! I love my mom, too, but I love Daddy best."

Pet Pride: grass is for naps, not nibbles

Photo by Richard Schear, June, 2012

Posted for Pet Pride
hosted by Lindy's friend Bozo and his family
in Mumbai, India, at their Pets Forever blog

Lindy says, "Hi, Bozo! My mom says she read that you like nibbling on grass when your tummy is upset. She says lots of dogs do that. I don't, but maybe I should try it, because I like eating green things. I like broccoli (especially the stems, because they're crunchy) and green bell peppers (after my dad removes the seeds) and many other vegetables, but I usually lie down on grass, and wait for my people to feed me a treat."

Camera Critter...didn't notice Lindy

Dick and Lindy have seen this cat before when they've been out walking, and the cat wasn't impressed by the sight of a short, fat Golden Retriever. This time, however, the cat posed prettily because it didn't see Lindy.

Posted for

Camera

Critters

the meme hosted

by Misty Dawn.

Photo by Richard Schear, 2012

http://camera-critters.blogspot.ca/2012/06/camera-critters-220.html

Thanks, Misty!

Weekend Reflections: prairie sunsets

Photos by Richard Schear, June, 2012 

When the sunset reflects off windows, it can look like fire (top photo) or it can bring a tree reflection with it, as in the second shot. My intrepid photographer is on the alert for interesting reflections when he's out walking with our dog Lindy. I often wonder what the owners of these houses think about the man with the camera pointed at them! So far, no one has phoned the Gendarmes about him.

Posted for
Weekend Reflections
hosted by that very talented photographer, James in Californa. Thanks, James!

Thursday Theme Song...makes me happy

Sunshine on my shoulders
makes me happy

Posted for
Hootin' Anni's
musical meme


Thursday
Theme
Song




Thanks, Anni!
Thursday Theme Song
almost always
makes me happy,
unless I miss it.

Sunshine in my eyes
can make me cry

I spent most of my adult life living and working in or near Vancouver, British Columbia.
 
 
Residents of that beautiful and vibrant city have access to concerts by many of the world's greats.
 
One such singer was John Denver, who died much too young, and I am grateful I was given the opportunity to see him perform.
 
My friend Judith had tickets for the press box, and we had to walk across a high catwalk to reach it. I was terrified, and almost didn't get there, believe me. But I'm very glad I did.
 
 
This is one of the songs John Denver sang that night, modified only slightly for Thursday Theme Song.

Sunshine on the prairie looks so lovely

Sunshine almost always makes me sigh.

Photos by Richard Schear, southeastern Alberta, June 17, 2012

ABC Wednesday: W is for whales

I couldn't resist. Even though these are not the world's best whale photos, they are photos of whales we actually saw when we visited Alaska in 2007.
What could be more wonderful for the letter W than the magnificent wild Orca, also known as the Killer Whale?

Photos by Richard Schear, 2007

Posted for
Mrs. Nesbitt's alphabetical meme
ABC Wednesday

Lindy with reflections and shadows

Richard Schear photos, June, 2012

Dick and Lindy went to the Redcliff Days Show'n'Shine this afternoon, where Lindy posed with this other "beautiful beast" — a 1958 Buick Special.

Posted for
Weekend Reflections
Shadow Shot Sunday 2
and also for Pet Pride

For Real Toads: our Mad limericks again

Having a screeching headache, which brought everything in my day to a halt, I decided to go with the old limerick thing for Open Link Monday for the writers' group Imaginary Garden With Real Toads again. At least they were already written, for Mad Kane's Limerick-Off, so I didn't have to think hard, which would surely have hurt my headache.

  

  

Not a very good one, but after I tried rhyming “breeze” with “niece” I decided to go with this one. I don’t know how many knee-bones a person has, but I’m hoping more than one.

A woman was shooting the breeze

On the phone while sitting at ease

So no one was there

When she fell off her chair

And broke bones in both of her knees.

By Kay Davies

And this one was by my better half (limerickingly as well as mathematically speaking) Richard Schear:

  

A fellow was shooting the breeze

With talk of the birds and the bees

His wife overheard

But said not a word

For she knew he had no expertise.

By Richard Schear

Sea lions sunbathing in San Diego Harbor

Photo by Richard Schear, spring, 2012

Posted for
Camera Critters
hosted by Misty Dawn. Thanks, Misty!

Shadow Shot Sunday 2: northern forest

Shadows were abundant in the northern forests of Alberta when my husband visited the city of Fort McMurray on a business trip early this month.

Grasses, mosses, twigs and leaves all contribute their shadows.

When Dick first noticed this lovely golden-crowned bird, it was in shadow.

With the aid of our omnipresent pal Mr. Google, I was able to identify this close-up photo as a Three-toed American Woodpecker.

© Richard Schear photos, May, 2012

Posted for

Shadow Shot Sunday 2

to see other shadow shots, click HERE

Parasailing over the Pacific in Puerto Vallarta

Dick has tried parasailing before, and is apparently in no hurry to try it again, although he says he enjoyed it. However, he did get some shots of parasailing in Puerto Vallarta, Mexico, during our recent holiday.

Posted for the letter P in Mrs. Nesbitt's popular alphabetical meme
ABC Wednesday
Click HERE to see how other people used the letter P this week.

© Photos by Richard Schear

Lindy for three memes

Look what I caught for Mom. She'll love it!

Richard Schear photo, April 2012

How could she know I love old Mustangs?

Lindy was actually happy to find a shady place to rest during her walk with her daddy to the post office. Sidewalks and roads throw off more heat than the red shale paths in their coulee walks, but it's easier to find shade in town.

Posted for
Camera Critters HERE!
Pet Pride HERE!
Shadow Shot Sunday 2 HERE!

Real Toads Open Link Monday: Mad Limerick

Photo by Richard Schear, San Diego Zoo, March, 2012

A fellow was off on a quest

(He really was trying his best)

He fell off his horse,

Got back on, of course,

But from then on, his quest, it went west.*

* went west 

On Mondays, the funny and talented Madeleine Begun Kane, winner of the Robert Benchley Society Award for Humor, and author of Mad Kane's Humor Blog, challenges other bloggers to write a limerick using her first line. Minor changes are allowed but the last word of the line must remain the same. This is my submission for this week, using Madeleine's first line unchanged.

Real Toads: open link Monday at the zoo

When we were in San Diego last month, I wanted nothing more than to visit the San Diego Zoo again — and again and again, if possible.

Well, at least I got there once, and if I wasn't particularly spry, my intrepid photographer certainly was, so he took plenty of photos, while I was able to sit down to write a bit of doggerel.



sunshine, blue sky, little tiny clouds
palm trees, jungle trees
and, below,
the crowds —
a dad with half a dozen boys,
a mom with seven girls,
grandparents with their pride and joy:
a six-year-old with curls.
newlyweds stroll arm in arm
while seniors walk with canes
teenagers try to seem blasé
with looks of mock disdain.
this is a weekday at the zoo
and everyone's excited
to see all the animals here,
they're thrilled, indeed delighted.

Some zoos and animal parks are a disgrace, but I truly believe the San Diego Zoo is focused on saving endangered species. They have contributed a great deal to the work of regenerating the Giant Panda, and have already released California Condors, among others, into the wild successfully. They also take on animals other zoos no longer want. These animals often need to be nursed back to health before being put on exhibit, and the devoted staff care for them wonderfully. If I didn't believe this, I would certainly not be submitting these photos to the online writers' group, Imaginary Garden with Real Toads. Today is Open Link Monday, and I wrote my little poem just for today.

© Richard Schear photos

Camera Critter: Bai Yun, San Diego Zoo

Bai Yun ("White Cloud") is not a panda cub, and hasn't been a cub for many years. Born in China in 1991, she has been at the San Diego Zoo since 1996. She has given birth to 5 cubs since 1999: Hua Mei (f), Mei Sheng (m), Su Lin (f), Zhen Zhen (m), and Yun Zi (m). Nevertheless, we saw her behaving like a frisky young cub when we visited the zoo last month.
When we first saw Bai Yun in 2006, her second daughter, Su Lin, was about six months old. Su Lin spent most of her time in a tree, sleeping, while Bai Yun spent most of her time sleeping on top of their outdoor den. All we could see of Bai at that time was her generous ("white cloud") backside. Su Lin's papa, Gao Gao, provided the only active entertainment that day.
I was surprised, therefore, to find her extremely playful this time. The zoo's play-by-play announcer said he had never seen her so lively before.
My intrepid photographer was fortunate enough to get many shots of Bai playing with a large disc in her pond. It turned out she was trying to get it out of her pond, and, when she succeeded, she didn't stop to rest. Instead, she began to climb her tree, offering the crowd some more photo opportunities! It was wonderful.

© Richard Schear, March, 2012

Posted for Misty Dawn's
Camera Critters meme.
Thanks, Misty!

SkyWatch Friday: Mexican sunrise

We were on our Mexican cruise for several days before my intrepid photographer managed to get these photos of the sunrise.

Our cabin was on the starboard side of the Carnival Spirit, so we were facing the west as we sailed south.

He did try to get up to go to the other side of the ship to catch the sunrise, and I even tried to help by waking him up one morning (the day the clocks went back, so I woke him up an hour early).

Finally, on our return northward, he was up and caught the sun rising through a layer of cloud. At first it looked like a snowcapped mountain on the horizon, then it began to take on fiery color, a true Mexican sunrise!

Above photos by Richard Schear. © April, 2012

Posted for
SkyWatch Friday
CLICK HERE to see skies from around the world.

Weekend Reflections: Saint-Malo, France

This is one of my favorite reflection shots, probably because we took it in one of my favorite places, Saint-Malo on the west coast of France.
There's just something about this photo, taken from a corner window table inside a small café, that makes me smile.
Thanks to our friends Debbie and Stijn for telling us about Saint-Malo. We're so glad you did!

© Kay Davies and Richard Schear, 2011

Posted for
Weekend Reflectons,
hosted by James in California. Thanks, James!
For other reflections captured by other photo-bloggers, please click HERE.

Weekend Reflections: colder than here

One place that's probably colder than Alberta right now, in February, is Alaska. These photos were taken during our Alaska cruise with Holland America in the summer of 2007.
Posted for
Weekend Reflections,
hosted by James in California. Thanks, James!

© Photos by Kay Davies and Richard Schear, 2007

ABC Wednesday: E is for Elk

© Photos by Richard Schear, Southeastern Alberta

Not camouflaged as well as deer, the mighty elk and his harem depend, perhaps, too much on their additional height, bulk, and speed. When lying down in the tall, brown winter grasses, however, they blend right in with the landscape.

Posted for Mrs. Nesbitt's popular alphabetical meme
ABC Wednesday
with this week's guest host, Roger O. Green. Thanks, Denise! Thanks, Roger!