Pet sitting Archives ~ Rambling ranger

December 27, 2023

Last Chance

Last chance is the theme for the final Lens-Artists Photography Challenge of 2023. Tina asks us to include those photos taken in 2023 that we haven’t published yet, that didn’t fit in with the other themes.

So this post is kind of random, an assortment of images that I like, but that are maybe not for everyone. They’re mostly not the grand scenic stuff. (That’ll be the next post.)

Hank, a wonderful cat — Hank, one of my favorite kitties

I’ll start with a portrait of Hank. Hank was my favorite of all the kitties I’ve ever pet-sat for. I spent all of last winter hanging out with him.

You’ve seen me post a lot of wildflower images, but not garden flowers. Since I committed to a winterlong housesit last year though, I missed the spring wildflower bloom in the desert and the Sierras. I had to make do with what was around me, and I had fun with the patterns I found in these flowers.

I was pretty antsy and ready for a road trip when I was finally free of my commitment on April 1. I headed down the Oregon Coast, looking for signs of spring, but spring was late in coming. I did find a few signs, though.

Skunk Cabbage Reflections — More signs of Spring!

In one coastal campground, most of the sites were flooded. Not so good for camping, but great habitat for Skunk Cabbages! (Hey, I’ll take whatever wildflowers I can find!)

I found this sea anemone in a tide pool on Cape Perpetua. I thought it was kind of cute, looked like a heart.

Coquille Head Lighthouse — Lighthouses are so photogenic!

I traveled south all the way to Bandon, where I had one of those perfect days for photography. You know, one of those days when the light is right and every picture you take just works?

Bandon Beach — This beautiful sculpture is completely made out of beach trash.

This sculpture made a powerful point. It was constructed out of trash washed up on the beach. It was an amazing piece of artwork.

I probably should have just put together a post on the beach at Bandon, so many of these last chance photos are from there. That’s partly because it was the batch of photos I was working on when I first started thinking about this post!

Bandon, Oregon tide pools — Psychedelic melting tide pool

I thought this image was kind of weird and psychedelic but fun. The pink and black rock and the wet sheen made it look like everything was melting. It reminded me of Salvador Dali’s clocks.

The fun in this picture was in the processing. By opening up the exposure I created a high-key image that looks more like an illustration than a photograph!

Cathedral Hills Grants Pass, Oregon — Easter in the Cathedral Hills

I spent Easter morning hiking with friends in the Cathedral Hills, in Grants Pass, Oregon. This is another image where I had fun playing with the processing, giving it a misty look, and making it look as much like a painting as a photograph.

Jasper National Park, Canada — Sharing the road with bighorn sheep

Another fun image was captured this fall in Canada’s Jasper National Park, where I had to share the road with a few bighorn sheep. Later during my fall journey South, I also captured the feature image. This was a day when the light was NOT right. I really wanted to visit Yellowstone Falls, but the sun was in the wrong place, mid-afternoon light shining directly in my face when I looked at the falls. Perfect backlight for capturing a small detail, though.

Sandia Peak Tram Albuquerque New Mexico — Coming up through the clouds

Finally, I had to include one image from last week. I took the Sandia Peak Tram to the top of the mountain to celebrate Solstice, take in the view, and treat myself to a bowl of green chile stew in the fancy restaurant at the top of the mountain. You know, those perfect photo days when the light is right and every picture just works? Uh huh, I got lucky once again. Winter Solstice was one of my best photography days of 2023!

Thanks, Tina, for hosting the Last Chance Challenge. I’m a day late and a dollar short as usual, but it was lots of fun! Happy New Year to you all!

December 22, 2022

Below the 49th Parallel – My Favorites

Well, I couldn’t do it. This week’s Lens-Artists Photo Challenge is Last Chance, when we’re invited to show off some of our favorite 2022 images that have not been published in a post yet this year. Since I took such a long hiatus from my blog this year, I have plenty! Too many, in fact. I can’t narrow my unpublished favorites down to one post.

Harriman State Park, OR — Oregon beach sunset

I’ve been trying, but I have lots of sweet images I’d love to share. Because I have too many, and since the Lens-Artists are taking a week off for the holidays and won’t be putting out a prompt next week, I’ve decided to divide my favorites into 2 parts. This week will be my favorites from below the 49th parallel, and next week will be my Northland favorites.

Redwood National Park — Tallest trees in the world

Last Winter’s Travels

One suggestion was to include images that would probably never be included in one of our typical posts. I pet sit in the winter but I very, very seldom include photos of my charges in my posts. Here is a favorite shot of a kitty I took care of last January.

Anacortes, WA — This kitty used to chew holes in my clothes!

I spent the month of February on a housesit in Pacific Grove, California. I envisioned this shot and was so excited, especially in post-processing when I realized I’d captured exactly what I’d envisioned!

I love visiting the redwood forest, and I love capturing abstracts. This is my favorite abstract shot for 2022. Charred bark from a previous fire and living green moss and lichens contributed to hues as bright as a peacock’s tail when looked at closely in this image.

Last Chance Photo Challenge — Rainbow Redwood

Check out this cool tree. It’s in Olympic National Park’s coastal forest, and with a burly head, fungus features, and a crown of fern leaves, it’s a people tree! I stop by and say Hello! and give it a hug every time I pass that way.

(Yawn) Another sublime Olympic sunset… The Feature is one, too. I captured this image on Rialto Beach. I love the dreamy feel of this image. The Feature shot is from First Beach. I had so many great shots from First Beach it was hard to pick just one.

This Winter’s Travels

My final image from Olympic is fall colors, maples along the Sol Duc Hot Springs Road. Olympic had by far the best fall colors I found in Washington this year.

Now I’m on Orcas Island, and I have especially enjoyed the waterfalls here. This one is called Rustic Falls.

For my final image, while hiking a local trail I saw this Big Leaf Maple leaf standing, still attached, on a tree branch – perfectly upright and all by itself, beautifully backlit. It’s getting a bit ragged, but mostly green, even though it’s December. It hasn’t let go, just keeps hanging on. This is a great inspiration for those times when I’m feeling a little raggedy! I underexposed the background because it was a bit busy and distracting. Doing this helped me to capture the way this leaf looked to me and made me feel.

Hope you, too, are still hanging in there and I wish you all a Happy Holiday season!

November 25, 2022

The Middle Way

Moran State Park, Orcas Island, Washington

I should never say never, because I always end up eating my words. Last year I spent the month of January in Anacortes, Washington, and found I really didn’t care much for that town. It was pretty, but the hills were too rounded. The sea was too mellow. No ragged jagged crags, no crashing surf. I could see why some people really loved it, but it was too tame. It just wasn’t wild enough for me. I felt stifled.

I’m a fan of in-your-face dramatic landscapes. Landscapes that smack you down and leave you awestruck. As a park ranger I’ve worked in parks that contain the highest and the lowest spots in North America. I live in a park that has more high mountains and more glaciers than anywhere else in the country. You might say I’m addicted to the extremes.

Mesquite Sand Dunes, Death Valley National Park — Death Valley is one of those extremes I love so much.

When I left Anacortes, I told myself I would never do another winter housesit in northern Washington. But when an opportunity came this year for a long-term housesit, in an oceanfront property on Orcas Island, I jumped on it.

I occasionally had second thoughts. I love the winters I’ve spent traveling throughout the West, checking out many different fabulous locations along the way. Will I miss my travels? Absolutely!

Petrified Forest National Park — I will miss the colors and textures of the desert, especially the Colorado Plateau.

I will miss the colors and textures of the deserts. I will miss the wild winter waves along the open Pacific coast. I will miss the wildlife extravaganzas I’ve been so lucky to witness in New Mexico’s Bosque del Apache and California’s Piedras Blancas National Wildlife Refuges. I will especially miss following the bloom, enjoying the spring wildflowers as I travel north from the Mexican border to Oregon.

But spending the winter on Orcas has its benefits. I attended one of the best performances I’ve ever witnessed last week, Rafe Pearlman’s Kanu. It was like nothing else I’ve ever seen before. Being in one place for the whole winter will give me the space and time to finish the book I’ve been working on. I can immerse myself in, and get to know, two entirely new ecosystems, both the Salish Sea island environment and the intertidal zone. I’m really excited about that opportunity. One big benefit is that staying here is much kinder to the planet, keeping my carbon levels low. I’ve gone through less than a tank of gas in the entire month of November!

Most importantly, I can try to resolve a lot of chronic pain issues I’ve been struggling with the last few years. That’s something I’ve been unable to do, home in McCarthy, where it’s a 500-mile round trip to see a health professional. On Orcas, I have access to so many wellness practitioners; massage therapists, chiropractors, acupuncture, physical therapy and more. They call Orcas the healing island. There’s a vibe here.

I’ll still be challenged by the lack of those extremes that I love. I’m not alone. A fellow Alaskan I met here said, “I feel too big for this place somehow. I talk too loud, I move too suddenly. I love it here, but I’m too…big.” I understand what she means.

Driftwood textures — It’s a subtle beauty.

Orcas Island has its own beauty. There are lovely waterfalls and noble trees. But it’s subtle. It’s not one of the extremes. You might say it’s the Middle Way.

Following the Middle Way is following the Tao. It’s a righteous way to live. So perhaps for me, for this winter, the Middle Way is the place to be. It’s time to leave the outer journey behind for a time and work on the inner journey. It’s a journey I look forward to. Peace to all from Orcas.

Thanks to Jude of Cornwall in Colors for this week’s Lens-Artists Photo Challenge, Textures.

February 26, 2022

Pacific Coast Sunsets

It’s a good year to miss winter in Alaska. The snow started early, on the last day of summer. I wasn’t lucky enough to miss that storm. It complicated my travel plans. It took me a couple of extra days to close everything up on the homestead and get out of town.

Then the snow took a brief hiatus, making way for the extreme cold. It was 40 below for weeks at a time in McCarthy, even dipping down to -60. The coldest I had ever seen was 53 below. Glad I missed the cold spell.

See what I mean about a good winter to miss? It was just getting started.

It’s been snowing back home. And snowing, and snowing….. more snow than anyone can remember ever falling in McCarthy. Buildings are buried. And it’s still February. March is usually the snowiest month. Yikes!

California sunsets — Sunset in Pacific Grove

Which makes me super grateful for where I am spending the winter, further south on the Pacific Coast. I have really been enjoying those Pacific Coast sunsets.

I spent January at a housesit in Anacortes, Washington. The weather was generally dark, drab and dreary, with snow, rain or fog practically every day. My SAD syndrome kicked in, but I kept reminding myself about what the weather was like back home and felt pretty thankful to be someplace safe and warm where I could avoid driving on those occasions when the streets were icy.

Deception Pass State Park — Sunset at Rosario Beach near Anacortes, Washington

The day before I left, I did have one nice sunset.

Then my luck changed. I had clear weather for 3 days in Olympic National Park! What a rare and wonderful occurrence! The skies continued to stay mostly clear as I traveled down the coast to my February housesit, in Pacific Grove, California.

Mostly clear, except every night as I passed through Oregon there was a thin band of fog on the western horizon in otherwise cloudless skies, effectively extinguishing any hints of color from the setting sun. I’ve included a photo from an Oregon sunset I took on another trip, so you can see the potential and understand my disappointment when things looked so hopeful each evening but didn’t pan out.

Skies have been clear almost every night here in California. There has only been one day with any precipitation at all. It was just a sprinkle, but I was able to capture some fabulous God rays between storms. Check out the feature shot and you’ll see what I mean.

I feel a little like Goldilocks and the three bears. Although I am grateful for all these beautiful sunsets, we could use some rain. Although there’s too much snow in McCarthy, the drought in the West is severe. According to dendrochronology, the science of interpreting past climate through tree rings, in some places it’s the worst drought in over 1500 years. So I pray for rain, and hope that if it comes, it also brings big waves, god rays and rainbows.

Pacific Grove, California — Praying for rain and big waves

Thanks to Anne for this week’s Lens-Artists Challenge, Water.

Kalaloch Sunset — Fishing boat off the Washington coast

November 25, 2021

Follow Your Bliss

Bosque del Apache National Wildlife Refuge

It got to -40 in McCarthy last week, and almost 20 below in Palmer. It’s been C-O-L-D in Alaska.

Thankfully, I’m not there. I decided to make like a bird and migrate. I’ve spent enough winters in cold places. For me, Warmth = Bliss. I’m following my bliss this winter.

TrustedHousesitters has been quite helpful to me when it comes to following my bliss. They hook up people looking for a petsitter with folks like me. I can check out what life is like in other beautiful places for a week or a month, and the homeowners can rest easy knowing that their home and pets will be well taken care of during their absence. It’s a wonderful trade, a real win-win situation.

I spent the end of October taking care of a sweet dog and kitty in Magdalena, New Mexico. Magdalena is the kind of town that brings those old Western movies to life. Established in 1885, it was a cowtown and railhead, the end of the line for cattle drives from as far away as Arizona.

The cattle drives are over, but Magdalena is proud of its rich history and happy to share it with visitors. This sleepy little town is chock full of art galleries and coffee shops. It’s a fun place to spend a Saturday afternoon, strolling along the sidewalks and checking out all the wonderful creations on display.

Ruins of Kelly, NM — Not much left of Kelly

I love ghost towns. One way I follow my bliss is by exploring these glimpses of the past whenever I get the chance. Magdalena is surrounded by ghost towns and near-ghost towns. That old Western movie vibe you feel here? The ghost towns are a big part of that. You get a taste of the Old West as you walk their dusty streets.

Just a few miles from Magdalena is Kelly. It was once a thriving mining community, with a population of over 3,000 people. All that’s left now are foundations, a few walls, and a headframe at the mine. There is only one building left standing in town, the Catholic church.

church in Kelly, NM — …except the church

Another ghost town near Magdalena is Riley. Originally known as Santa Rita, the town changed its name to get a post office, since there was already another Santa Rita in the Territory. Riley was a farming community and died during the Dust Bowl in the 1930s when its water table dropped precipitously. The church is still standing here, too. New Mexico is like that.

Rio Salado — Lack of water is what killed Riley.

Water is key in the New Mexico desert. I spent most of my time in Magdalena sitting on the porch enjoying the birdlife attracted by a tiny pool on the property.

While in New Mexico, I pursued another passion, following my bliss by birdwatching at Bosque del Apache National Wildlife Refuge. Due to the ongoing drought, things were a little different at the Bosque this fall. The shallow ponds that are usually the big draw for photographers who want those images of thousands of Snow Geese and Sandhill Cranes were dry. The Refuge was only flooding those fields that were planted with food for the birds. But there were still many incredible opportunities to observe and photograph dozens of different species. Sunrise at the Bosque is a magical, holy experience and I am thankful that I was able to visit this year.

Vesper Sparrows — A whirlwind of sparrows

I’m on another housesit now, a farm in southern Oregon. There’s a lot of birdlife here, too. I found it rather serendipitous that I am here for Thanksgiving, and a flock of 23 wild turkeys has been hanging out on the property off and on all week. Guess they know I have no intention of shooting them for Turkey Day!

Watching them though, I can totally understand why the Founding Fathers did not take Ben Franklin’s advice and make this bird our national symbol. Turkeys are really homely birds. Bald heads covered with red bumps, wrinkly and scrawny necks, not necessarily a good look for a national symbol!

However, I’m enjoying the peace and serenity of country living this Thanksgiving. I’m thankful to be warm and counting my blessings. It’s a good life. That’s my advice for this Thanksgiving weekend – Count your blessings. And remember to follow your bliss – whenever you can and wherever it leads you!

Thanks to Lindy LeCoq for this week’s Lens-Artists Photography Challenge, “Follow Your Bliss”.

November 4, 2019

Monochrome Photography – It’s Not All Black & White

Patti challenges us with monochrome photography in this week’s Lens-Artists Photo Challenge. Thanks, Patti! Monochrome photography is an interesting way to interpret the scene for a photographer like me who somewhat depends on a splash of color. I’ve had fun with it!

To meet this challenge, I thought I’d share with you a short travelogue of my journeys over the last year. I spend my winters petsitting through TrustedHousesitters, and it’s taken me to some fine, fine places.

What’s Happening Now

I’m currently spending a little time in Colorado. It’s a blast from the past, an opportunity to get back to my roots, revisit landscapes forever held deep in my heart, spend time with family, and heal. I was fortunate enough to land a housesit in Allenspark, in the southwest corner of Rocky Mountain National Park, which made this sweet sojourn with a land I love possible.

I spent a couple of weeks watching the deer and elk in Rocky Mountain National Park, my first mountain home, last month.

Winter On The West Coast

A year ago today, though, I was on the Long Beach Peninsula, Washington State. I was housesitting a very sweet dog and cat in a lovely old home just 4 blocks from the beach. It was wonderful to spend a whole month immersing myself in the Pacific Northwest, an environment I’d never before had the opportunity to really experience.