Behind the Digital LensMusings of an Amateur Photographer

31st Aug, 2021 The Rainbow Bridge

I’ve had dogs all my life and it is never easy having to say goodbye to one at the end of their life, and so it was today. This little girl didn’t have the best beginnings in life and my wife and agreed to take her and rehome her to someone. But, we couldn’t. This sweetheart, named Daisy at the time, stole our hearts and giving her up to someone else became out of the question. She was ours forever, good or bad. But it was all good. She was sweet, funny, smart, demanding, and begging to be loved. And love her we did. How could you not?

She had a bigger than life presence and let you know about it. She also had horrible separation anxiety from the get-go, with a ton of swear words to go with it and didn’t mind spouting them off if you tried to leave her behind, even if it was just to go to another room. She let our other dogs know she was in the house to stay and she was bound and determined to be alpha dog despite the fact there were a number ahead of her in line. And she was quick to bite them if they got too close or tried to take something of her. So quick we actually called her movement “the snake”. Oh yes, she nailed us a couple of times, too, but she never meant it. I think!

She was definitely mommy and daddy’s little girl and loved us both so much. She loved sleeping with us, usually between us, and as close as she could get. After our divorce and once I moved into this apartment, Lily loved sleeping with her head on my left shoulder. It was something so special that moving was out of the question, even if my shoulder went to sleep. When I started sleeping in my easy chair because of my back and hips, she slept on my right leg, sometimes by my left leg, and when she did that brother Bentley usually ended up on the couch or on the floor. Her bestest friend in the whole world was Bentley, and they played endlessly. Until Bentley’s cancer caught up with him, and even then, the few days before he died, she tried hard to get him to play to no avail.

After Bentley crossed the Rainbow Bridge last year he took some of Lily with him, and her health began to slowly deteriorate. She already had pancreatitis before he died, but she developed diabetes and then her eyesight began to fail because of cataracts. She was just 13 then. Soon, she became blind except to light, so she could see movement. She never really came out of her depression, but she did perk up some and I began looking for another dog. I hoped to have found one that she could play with, even being mostly sightless, but it wasn’t to be, and then puppy Roby came into our lives. While he was good for me, I’m not so sure he was all that good for her because he was like all puppies – rough and tumble and full of play with razor blade teeth. She couldn’t see him, but gamely tried to play “teeth” with him only to find him pulling her hair and her ears and yanking her around the floor until I stepped in and stopped him.

And then her health really took a turn with her pancreatitis flaring up a lot and becoming dehydrated a lot. Lots of IV fluids and medicines to keep her going. And the little Yorkiepoo with the beautiful hair started losing it, as many an older dog will, and then we found her thyroid wasn’t doing its job, so another medicine. And LilyCatherine stepped on the path to the Rainbow Bridge. All I wanted was for her to make it to her 14th birthday on July 4th. We weren’t sure. But she made it and seemed strong – for a while – only to falter again and again.

LilyCatherine was telling us it was time to go, that she was tired. She was done. My strong, brave little girl tried for me, but I couldn’t be selfish for her. After discussions with her two vets we decided it was time for her to cross the Rainbow Bridge on September 7th. It was not to be. Over the weekend, LilyCat stopped eating, although she continued to drink. She was telling me and so it was decided that August 31st, 2021 she would cross the Rainbow Bridge and go find her bestest friend who would be waiting for her.

I will miss this cute, sweet and loving little Yorkiepoo, but I am so grateful we were blessed and graced with her soul while it was here. I told her while kissing her between her eyes: “Lily, this is where God kissed you when he sent you here to us and God has kissed you here telling you it’s time to come back Home”. And so it was.

I am so grateful to the dedicated and loving vets, techs, and staff at City Vet Addison [TX] for their care and love that they have shown LilyCatherine over the years and especially over the last eighteen months and for their compassion and kindness they have shown me over the last few months. A hard transition for all of us, but made easier by these special people.

6th Jun, 2021 My Puppy Roby

My dear little Roby is 5 months old now and already seems like an adult dog, but he’s not. I have to remind myself that he is just a puppy; he’s just growing so quickly! Last Wednesday he weighed in at 13.4 pounds, and that was up from 12.8 pounds on May 26th! It’s like lifting a wiggling brick, or trying to hold on to a large fish you just caught. Every day, though, I am just totally amazed at this little guy and still wonder how I got so lucky to have him in my life. Sure, he gets into things like most puppies do [he’s a master paper and box shredder!] and does things he shouldn’t [like try to pull his 14 year old blind sister’s tongue out of her head], but he’s really a delight to have around. Oh, yes, he talks incessantly, too, even on his walks. Sometimes it’s embarrassing, especially when we’re walking late at night and everyone has gone to bed. It’s like he’s saying, “Wake up! Roby-boy is here now!”. And most of my apartment complex knows him because he’s so danged friendly – and because of his barking. He loves people. Heck, he loves life in general! He is an incredibly happy dog! Like I said, how did I get so lucky!

Roby loves to watch television, and his favorite commercial is the Bravecto Flea & Tick Protection for dogs. The minute that comes on, he’s at the tv barking like crazy and wagging his tail so hard I’m afraid he’ll disconnect it! He also watched the Kentucky Derby and the Preakness Stakes horse races – actually watching with interest. That was pretty cool. Unfortunately there are a lot of shows he doesn’t like and he lets me know because he won’t stop barking. That means either the tv goes off or I find another show to watch. And, oh dear, animal vet shows….well, it’s hit or miss with him; some he likes, most he doesn’t.

One of his favorite activities is going down to the leasing office after hours and playing in the water fountain. He barks, he lunges, he gets soaked from head to tail, but he’s having the time of his life. [Of course, when it comes to a bath, or in his case shower, like most dogs, that’s a no-no!] And then he starts to walk away and I think he’s done, but nooooo, he runs right back at the fountain and starts again! He definitely keeps me laughing!

If the last three months are any indication, it’s going to be an incredibly fantastic ride with this Schnorkie!

19th Mar, 2021 An Interesting Few Months

It has been an interesting time since last November. The two biggest changes in my life happened between then and now. First, in November, I got a new camera. It’s a Nikon Coolpix P950 and there is a TON to learn about this camera. Right now I’m still at the point and shoot stage, but that’s okay because it’s where you start to learn about a new camera. It won’t be long before I am messing around with all it has to offer.

One of the neat things is that I can take hand held photos of the moon. Now, granted, the photos would look better if I used a tripod and a timer or remote, but just being able to capture something that far away hand held is pretty exciting.

I was pretty excited when I saw that. I think most everyone that enjoys taking photos wishes they could take photos of the moon. I could many years ago using a tripod, but that was with my Canon, and back then I had pretty good conditions for taking moon shots. And, FWIW, that is a zoom shot, but at only half the distance the camera is capable of taking. Anything beyond that would definitely need a tripod.

And it’s pretty good, too, for other kinds of photos that I enjoy taking, such as head shots of ducks.

It’s going to be an interesting Summer learning the ins and outs of this camera, and I am looking forward to it.

The other change in my life has been my new Schnorkie puppy. What a delight he has been! I got him right before the big Texas storm, but wasn’t able to pick him up until the weekend after when all of the snow was gone. It was a good 3 hour round trip and he had never been in a car until that day so I ended up holding him for about 45 minutes of the drive back. That made for a great bonding time and now he sticks close to me as much as possible. He loves sleeping next to me, and sometimes in my arms, too. It didn’t take long for him to learn to give good kisses, but sometimes those kisses come with razorblade “toofies”. Although he knows his name I think he thinks his name is NO. The neat thing about this puppy is that not only is he full of life, he is also enjoying life. He loves meeting people – and barking at them – and just plain playing, whether it be inside or outside. He has brought a lot of happiness back into my life, and has also gotten me up out of the chair and moving again. [Hopefully that will help me lose the weight I have gained since losing Bentley and with the COVID-19 lockdown.] I still miss Bentley tremendously, and will for quite a while, but this little guy fills a void right now. As for Lily, well, she’s not all that happy about having a rambunctious 3 month old puppy crawling all over her and pulling her hair, especially since she’s blind now. I think she’d like to pack her bags and move in with her mommy in Florida!

And then there was the storm that took out Texas. We knew it was a powerful storm and all of Texas took precautions for such, but no one had an inkling that we were going to be dealing with prolonged power outages, with lows around 0° and tons of snow. It was cold, there was no doubt about it! And while we were dealing with the power being out and trying to find food, the old water pipes slowly froze; and when they started to thaw back out, lots of burst pipes and spewing water. I was one of the lucky ones because my little quad of apartments had no burst pipes, hence no water damage, but others in my complex weren’t so lucky and faced flooding and damaged belongings and living spaces. Many have had to move out temporarily while repairs are being made and others moved because the damage was very extensive. Cold water came back on shortly after the power came back, but it was nearly two weeks before hot water was restored here. Lily and I stayed toasty warm under piles of blankets and I read quite a bit thanks to a torch flashlight. This is definitely not an event I would like to experience again. Once was enough.

And now it is Spring, the flowers are blooming, the redbuds and dogwoods are flowering, and the birds, bees, squirrels and insects are all dashing about doing their thing. You would never know that storm was just a few weeks ago, if you relied on the weather to tell you.

“Spring is Nature’s way of saying, ‘Let’s party!'” —– Robin Williams