It all started with Katie as most things do in this household. Rightfully so she adds.
She had to go out; it was about 6:30 in the morning. No sense arguing with her, best to just roll with it. Rub your eyes and find your pink clogs and shuffle with her out the door, down to the end of the driveway to her favorite spot for leaving early morning pee-mail.
Glancing over your shoulder as she snuffles along you see the moon is setting. And you remember you have a brand new tripod and wouldn’t this be a great time to try it out.
But she is still snuffling, she hasn’t chosen her exact spot yet. There is something that smells good over there by the day lily. Really good apparently.
You tug on her leash, urging her to hurry up. Sniff sniff…meander… sniff some more.
Finally she is done and you both sprint for the house, your mind trying to remember where you last saw the tripod. The camera. Most importantly your glasses. Her mind wondering what glorious adventure we are heading toward.
Gathering up all three you fumble attaching the camera to the tripod. Got it finally. Hurry – the moon is going down!
Outside as you tiptoe carefully across the dew slick deck Katie prances and pulls expecting an adventure. She has to go with you because if you left her in the house she’d bark hysterically and spouse is sleeping. Smart spouse.
The grass is flooded with dew. Your pajamas are instantly soaked, the pink clogs slip off your feet forgotten. Katie gets put, much against her wishes, in her pen to watch you from a safe enclosure. And so you don’t have to handle the leash while figuring out the tripod as the moon slips faster and faster toward the tree tops.
Because the moon is so low you have to go behind a line of spruce trees planted on the side of a hill. Out of Katie’s sight. She puts up a small protest. You tell her to shhhhhhhh!
The hill makes setting up the tripod harder. You can’t remember which way to turn this and that. The camera is heavy and you can’t find the knob to tighten the center post and it keeps slipping. You hold it with your hand, bend down and squint through the lens. Your glasses slide off your head and fall into the wet grass.
You grab them up, refocus the wandering lens and shoot, then try to check the image but you can’t see because your glasses are smeared with dew and fingerprints and bits of recently mowed grass.
You refocus everything including your brain and try again. Click
And from behind you comes the unmistakable smell of a visitor. Odious would be the term.
You gather up your camera atop the unwieldy tripod and race on bare feet to get the dog and you both gingerly run across the slippery deck into the house where you begin to laugh and she looks at you like you are crazy.
Which is pretty much certifiably true.
August 19, 2016 at 9:23 am
great shots and Katie is so cute!
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August 20, 2016 at 11:06 am
Thank you! She enjoys posing, at least at the beginning of the trip. After a few days of it, not so much.
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August 19, 2016 at 10:02 am
But the results were so worth it! Says me, sitting in her chair with dry feet.
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August 20, 2016 at 11:07 am
Eventually my feet dried, ready for the next crazy and/or damp adventure. Katie has been home a whole day and a half and already she’s bored.
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August 19, 2016 at 10:59 am
But you captured the moon and have such a fun adventure to remember 🙂
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August 20, 2016 at 11:08 am
You are right. A mini adventure right in my own back yard. Though I think Katie will not consider it an adventure when all she got to do is stand around in her pen. She’s not easily fooled, that one.
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August 20, 2016 at 1:43 pm
Petey would’ve been disappointed too. He thinks – wrongly – that skunks are fun.
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August 19, 2016 at 11:42 am
Good job! Working under pressure, too. Was there a skunk nearby? But it missed you, right? Good again!
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August 20, 2016 at 11:08 am
I did feel under pressure. And yes..there was definitely a skunk very very nearby. But we got away unscathed. Because we can run and laugh at the same time.
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August 19, 2016 at 12:02 pm
Written like a true photographer. . .always go for the picture and the story. Beautiful picture.
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August 20, 2016 at 11:09 am
Yes, though someday I suppose always going for the picture will get me in trouble.
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August 19, 2016 at 12:42 pm
we were out tarring up the moon last night – it was huge !
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August 20, 2016 at 11:09 am
It WAS huge!
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August 19, 2016 at 1:46 pm
The things we do to get just the right photo! And here, the results are definitely worthwhile!
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August 20, 2016 at 11:10 am
I thought so. Though I’ve had better shots of the moon…these will always remind me of our run from the skunk.
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August 19, 2016 at 2:02 pm
lol! I’ve had similar experiences minus a dog to verify I am crazy. 🙂
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August 20, 2016 at 11:11 am
Long ago, before I had Katie attached to my leg, I was taking a photo while sitting on an ice covered rock in stormy Lake Superior. And I realized how stupid that was and clambered off and got back in my car. That time I knew I was certifiably crazy. Even without a dog.
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August 19, 2016 at 4:39 pm
Ahhh-ha-ha-ha-ha-ha!!!! Did you ever find the pink clogs? I’m really glad you took these pictures because I slept through the whole thing. Nice job.
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August 20, 2016 at 11:12 am
Yep, went back out there and got them under the heat of the morning sun long after any skunky visitor would have gone home.
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August 19, 2016 at 5:07 pm
That moon was something else
Lily & Edward
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August 20, 2016 at 11:12 am
It sure was! This morning again too!
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August 20, 2016 at 8:42 am
LOL what a story!! That’s great! It is an occasion like this that I suggest that having a fenced in yard is a really great thing for a dog owner! 😉 Happy for you that you did manage these pretty shots.
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August 20, 2016 at 11:13 am
I know! Often (very often) I wished we had a fenced back yard. But…you work with what you have I guess. I agree the few shots I got are pretty. And the story was pretty good too!
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