Thunderstorms + Angels

Thunder and lightning woke me up just before 2am. I lay there in bed trying to decide if what I heard was rain or the fan in my room. It shouldn't be a difficult thing to decipher, but I have confused simpler things when being awoken out of a deep slumber. Remembering that I was in charge of caring for Angel should it start to pour in the night I decided it wasn't raining, but knew it could start at any moment so I jumped out of bed, pulled on my boots and headed for the door. Chula hollered at me from her crate and I continued outside. It was only drizzling, but the sky was lighting up. Standing under the shelter I yelled for Angel. She nickered at me and started my way from the other side of the pasture. It amazes me how friendly she is, but I guess that's what happens when you get a horse from a neglect case and not an abuse case. She's a new arrival and seems to really enjoy the regular care and attention.  Pretty happy to have a visitor in the middle of the night, she followed me straight into her stall. I gave her a few pats and made a run for the house. How often do people get struck by lightning? I love thunderstorms, but something about walking around outside during them makes me a tad nervous.

Shortly after I went inside it began to pour. Good timing :) There was quite a bit of thunder and lightning and I grabbed my camera hoping to get some cool shots. I have never got any lightning shots and this was my perfect opportunity. Great idea. Poor circumstances. I have no tripod, and as I opened the door thinking I would just shoot from the doorway (using the chair as my tripod) I realized I was blocked by trees. Door number two... a bright light coming out of the shed, buildings, and more trees. Not quite a perfect scenario for good lightning shots. Maybe if I went to the barn I could get some shots, but I would have to make a run for it and have something to cover my camera. Too much effort. Chula is upset that I have been up for a few minutes now and have continued to ignore her in her crate. Who am I kidding? I have never had the patience to shoot night photography or anything that requires tripods cause I hate setting them up; and really, it's 2am and I should be sleeping.

Cocoa

I love this dog. I don't love all dogs. I can be picky. Small dogs have to seriously work for my love. This dog though? Instant. I think Cocoa has been here a week or two. Not sure how she was not instantly adopted. Clearly not everyone shares my affinity for large puppies with floppy ears. Do I need another dog? No. Can I turn down a puppy? It appears I am capable of such things!

If you live anywhere near Northwest Florida and want to adopt this puppy. Check out her link and call on her!

A New Season

I do not know where to begin. There are seasons in life and I think I have started one in which blogging just isn't going to happen. Let me explain. In my worry about the dogs and where they would spend their quarantine time in order to get to Hawaii I found a great solution. If you want it done right do it yourself. I am staying behind to wait out the dogs quarantine and we will meet up with Brian in Hawaii in September. I am hoping to visit him in July, but I know how ships can be and if he is out to sea too much or cannot get leave, I might not be able to visit. I'm not getting my hopes up and am trying to enjoy our last two weeks together. By the time he leaves we will have been together for a full six months. It seems like it's been a lot longer (and I mean that in a good way!).



So my plan to stay was secured by a job at Alaqua Animal Refuge. My life seems to revolve around being a jack of all trades, master of none, and it seems I will be the jack of all trades at Alaqua (or one of the many there...). I've been busy with Alaqua, preparing to move, and making sure I am taking the proper steps with the dogs' quarantine. I will still be doing photography work, but to be honest I haven't got a ton of work anyway, so my focus will be shifting to Alaqua and whatever photography work I get on the side will be great. But it will be just that, on the side. I'd like to keep blogging for you people who actually follow me. I know people like seeing pretty pictures and I will be taking plenty of the animals at Alaqua. Perhaps I will turn this into a place to advertise pups up for adoption that I photograph. Yeah, actually that sounds like a plan to me. I need to keep it simple. Maybe some days I will just post a picture, and some days you will get a story with it. Either way I will make an effort to keep this going. I like blogs. I think their fun. So there you go, that's my plan. Just remember, the puppies that are on here are up for adoption! The one below on the right... he was howling at me, in case you can tell :) Or perhaps it was at my camera.

So here's to a new season, a new job, another move, another separation from Brian to make our hearts grow fonder. Sounds kinda sappy to me, but it's true. Our hearts do grow fonder. Four months of something different. Four months of not having any of my stuff. I don't really care about my stuff, so it's not a big deal. I'll have my dogs and that's what I care about. I'll only really miss my whiteboard and my ice cream shovel.