Best Shot Monday: Spotted - Shadows

 

Happy Monday! Doesn't this photo make you want to loosen up your shoulders and deep breathe out all your cares? Something much needed these days! I took this photo a few weeks back from our dock in Jacksonville and decided to use it for my blog friend Hanna's Spotted Photo Theme Challenge. I'm a bit late (nothing new around here!), so January's theme was shadows. See how you can see the shadows of the clouds reflected on the water below? 

Being able to take this photo again was a momentous occasion for us as our dock has been inaccessible since Hurricane Nicole in November of 2022. The dock was damaged during Hurricane Irma in 2017 when high flood waters destroyed quite a few docks along our part of the river, and 12 of them, yes 12!, ended up in our backyard due to the flow of the tides and winds. Those docks took out our dock as well (and the water left us a foot of water in the ground floor of our house, but that's a story for another day). We were able to repair the dock after Irma, but storm after storm every year since really took a toll on her and Nicole finally did her in. It took us two years just to secure a dock builder - if you are in the Jacksonville area, that's clearly the line of work to go into as all the ones here can't keep up with the work - and another 8 months before he finally showed up and did the work. But at least she's finally usable again. I've missed hanging my feet over the side and watching the sun rise (as in this photo) or set (opposite side of the dock!). 

We've been here in our little spot on the river since 2000, but we bought the lot in 1994, way back before this side of town was "discovered" (let's just say we could definitely not afford to purchase here now). The dock was the first thing we built. One night shortly after the dock was done, my husband and I were sitting out there watching the world go by when a mama and baby dolphin spy-hopped up to take a peek at us literally less than 8 feet from the dock. It was truly a magical moment. We both set there in silence hoping they'd come back, and then finally I said, "Well, that was worth the cost of the mortgage right there." And we're blessed with dolphins swimming by pretty much every day now. #countingmyblessings

Who Knew This Could Happen? A Snow Day in Florida!

So if you've been watching the weather news in the United States, you may have seen that the Southeast is experiencing record cold ... and record snow! This is the view off my front porch in Tallahassee, FLORIDA, at about 8:30am this morning. As I write this now, while the snow on the street has mostly melted and is now turning into ice now that the sun is starting to set, the snow in my front and back yards is still holding strong!  All the schools in the Florida panhandle were closed today and have announced that they will remain closed tomorrow, some through Friday.

The snow and sleet in some areas started at about 5pm yesterday afternoon and was pretty much non-stop until 2am or 3am early this morning. I could not get my pups to go out last night before bed, and when I took them out this morning, they did their usual "run out with full gusto" but then quickly hit the brakes when they hit the snow! It was something they'd never seen before, like most Floridians! They eventually settled in and have enjoyed playing outside off and on today, though they have definitely wanted to come in sooner than normal. It's cold even to them!

Thankfully we've stayed off the road, as have my daughters who've sent me videos of them sledding down the hill just outside their back door at their apartment complex across town! My husband just got rain in Jacksonville, but still very cold! This is will definitely be a day for the history books in Florida so I wanted to record it here!   

Sunday Gratitude: Traditions

 

One of our Christmas traditions is to take the dogs to hike the Black Rock Beach trail on Big Talbot Island on Christmas morning - tides allowing! Occasionally we'll have to go later in the day if the tide is too high in the morning. It's our Christmas present to the pups. We've been doing this since the girls were little, before they could even walk the dogs! But since they've gotten big enough to walk them, I've taken a photo like the one above. The pups have changed over the years - I wished they lived longer - and the girls have gotten quite a bit taller, but today, on this Sunday Gratitude day - I'm so grateful we have kept up this tradition. My girls are 21 now, and I know these days are precious as they continue to get older. Have a favorite holiday tradition of your own? Drop me a note in the comments!

 

 

 

Sunday Gratitude: What I'll Miss

Way back here right about 10 years ago, I told you about an impending move to a new job that also involved living in a new city ... not a new-to-me city since I attended college there, but a new-to-my-family city. Now here I am nearly 10 years to the day that I started this job planning my exit strategy. It's not a quick exit strategy - I'm looking at 12-18 months - but I definitely have a plan in the works. 

When my hubs was in Tallahassee with me a couple weeks ago for the football game, we were driving to the game when he asked me if I'd miss Tallahassee when I retired from this job. So yes, I will miss parts of Tallahassee. I will miss what is essentially the small-town feel of this town, where you truly can get anywhere you want to go in less than 20 minutes, and in my new place I told you about last week, it's even less than that. I can be anywhere I need to be - either work, Publix, Target, campus, my girls apartment - in less than 15 minutes. Last weekend, we went to a little arts festival at which I saw several friends and from which my husband was literally able to walk home when he got bored. You don't find that in a city as large as Jacksonville, the largest city by land mass in the 48 continental United States. But what I'll miss most is serving on the Chi Omega advisory board, a board of women who give their time to serve and guide our collegiate Chi Omega chapter here at Florida State University. Sure, I've loved having a group of "my students" again with the actives that I advise, but what I'll miss more is the board itself, and the women that comprise it. 

Best Shot Monday: Zodiac

I finally got back into the shelter last week after about four months out just due to a variety of things - lots of work travel, some family travel, dealing with a very cranky knee.  So it was a little slow going getting back into the swing of things photographing the dogs. This guy made it easy though!  He's a Border Collie / Lab mix named Zodiac. Super friendly and playful and quite the ham for the camera! 

Our shelter in Tallahassee is going through quite a sizeable renovation, and losing access to 50 dog kennels during this first phase of the renovation. Shelter staff did an amazing job getting dogs out to foster and pushing hard for adoptions so that the loss of those kennels wouldn't be quite as challenging. It's always still challenging as there is unfortunately never a loss of dogs needing sheltering, but it's been really great seeing all staff, volunteers and the city come together to work through these times. It'll all be worth it when the renovation is complete! As I write this, Zodiac has already been adopted!

Sunday Gratitude: Flowers in the Neighborhood

Well hello, old blog. Trying to get back to you so we'll start with a little Sunday Gratitude. I moved into a new neighborhood in Tallahassee in August 2023. It was actually quite the story and will wrap back around to this photo! We'd been in our rental in Ox Bottom for eight years, and unfortunately the owner decided to take advantage of the skyrocketing rental rates in Florida and raise our rent. They increased it by nearly $500 a month, too much to stomach when we really didn't need that much space anymore. My husband was working full time back at home in Jacksonville, and the girls were in their apartment for college, so it really was just me and the dogs most of the time, except for when the hubs came over to visit. The challenge was that I was notified of the rent increase in mid July while Sarah and I were up in Washington DC for a week checking out all the museums. I knew that if I was going to move, it really needed to happen by mid-August before we all went back to work and school for the Fall or I'd be moving with no help!

My daughter Olivia was home in Tallahassee so she searched out some options while I was in DC, and we thought we found the perfect spot! It had a fenced in backyard and allowed dogs, was in a part of town I was used to, and though it was half the size, the rent was the same as what we were paying before the rent hike. Liv visited it and liked it. Owner reached out to me with a "I have several others interested" text, and since Liv had visited it and liked it, I took the leap and signed the lease from DC. When I got back in town, I did a little drive by and it seemed perfectly fine. A few days later, I met up with the owner, and it seemed perfectly fine; there were just a few things I pointed out that I felt needed to be addressed before I moved in. She agreed and said she'd take care of it. I had picked up the keys, and a few days before we planned to move in, hubs and I drove by after going to a movie and went in to do some planning. Water was running in one of the toilets, so we checked the other and saw that the water had been dripping in the shower. I made a note to talk with the owner about those things. As luck would have it, the next door neighbor was outside (a police officer! a bonus!), and she shared some of the challenges the previous tenant had when the house was switched from well to city water, a $400 increase in water bill! Thinking maybe that was because of the toilet running and shower dripping, we made notes regarding what the neighbor shared for the owner. 

Best Shot Monday: Persimmon

Meet sweet Persimmon. Among lots of favorites, she holds my number one spot at the shelter right now. Her life before the shelter was (to put it lightly) rough. She came to the shelter in October, and it was clear she was accustomed to not knowing when her next meal was coming. She was mostly hairless, after years of flea infestations and allergies to fleas had taken their toll. She had clearly birthed more puppies than seems reasonable. She was just thrilled to get a blanket and a cot and meals and water every day. As the days went on, she started to learn that people were to be trusted, and we started to see her affectionate side. After 8 years, she was finally getting all the love she needed. The stress of kennel life started to get to her, and to ease her frustration, she made her way into a foster home where she learned what it’s like to have a home and someone who cares for her. Her former foster mom says she is "Always happy and prances around" and she "Loves getting petted, taking naps, and doesn’t mind clothes or baths." Don't let her age fool you - this eight year old, 62 pound girl has a LOT of life left in her, and enjoys a good long walk along with good long naps. I took the top photo on April 18, and the bottom one on January 14, when we first met. She needs her forever and has been waiting for a while for it. Are you her hero? ⁣If you are, I want visiting privileges. She's available for adoption through the City of Tallahassee Animal Service Center.

Best Shot Monday: Brownie

Volunteering at an animal shelter can at times be a little sad and stressful; there would be nothing better than to see all those kennels empty because all those animals are in happy homes. But most times, for me at least, the shelter can be a very healing place. Nothing like a little loving on some pups to help your heart. I made it into the shelter for a bit one morning the week after my best friend died to do just that - spend a little time loving on some shelter pups to help sew my heart back up. 

This little gal, Brownie, was the only one I had a chance to photograph before it started raining that day, but she was the sweetest thing. She had some scarring from an embedded collar which you can just barely see in this photo, but she was just so full of love and affection. She reminded me about resilience. That's the thing about shelter dogs. For so many of them who come in as strays, we don't know their back story. For some who come in as owner surrenders or cruelty confiscations, we know some of their back story. But either way, who knows what they've really been through? Brownie had an embedded collar - frankly, to me it looks like it was a rope - so clearly she was not well cared for, yet she was still so clearly giving and seeking love to and from me. She was bouncing back, ready to jump back into life with a new family. There's a lesson in that for all of us, don't you think? Certainly was for me. Brownie is currently hanging out in a foster home waiting for her forever family. She's available for adoption through the City of Tallahassee Animal Service Center.  The shelter is currently open for adoptions by appointment!

Best Shot Monday: Sharing a Little Magic

Meet Magic!  I was so happy to see this fella get adopted this weekend. He's about 75 pounds of awesome.  Sometimes larger dogs like this, particularly, shall we say, enthusiastic, large dogs like this, wait a while to get adopted. Thankfully, Magic didn't have to wait as long as others. Can you imagine being cooped up in a kennel for nearly 24 hours a day? Next time you are considering adding a four-legged pal to your family, please considering adopting from your local shelter! Shelter pets truly do know they are rescued and return that love in spades! Magic was adopted from the City of Tallahassee Animal Service Center. 

For those of you new to my blog, thanks for stopping in! Yes, I am a multi-media artist, and my artisan jewelry, mixed media art journaling and handmade books are primarily what you'll find here, but I've also been a photographer for about 35 years, and for the past 10 years or so, have been training my lens on spotlighting shelter animals, usually on Mondays! 

Best Shot Monday: Sweetness

Gosh, can't believe it's been a full four weeks since I've checked in here! Working through all this virus stuff really has me pretty discombobulated! I've been having a very hard time focusing through all this. Anyone else? Between working from home some days, going in to the office others, juggling all the work changes this has brought forth, and helping my girls navigate it all, these past six months have been quite the doozy. How are you managing? 

One source of consistency for me has been going to the shelter. I'm so grateful I've been able to keep this up through all this. While our procedures for volunteering have changed to adapt to state and local requirements, I'm still able to go in once a week, which has been a blessing. A good two or three hours with the shelter pups always lifts my spirits. And so many of these pups have been through so much, and yet can still throw out smiling happy faces like this one. Meet Sweetness. She is so aptly named! This gal is so sweet and loves nothing more than good snuggles and belly rubs. She's awkwardly playful, super goofy, about one year old and 36 pounds, and, as of this writing, available for adoption from the City of Tallahassee Animal Service Center. 

Support your local shelter!  Adopt. Volunteer. Foster. Donate. Educate. 

Missing my Best Pal

I've really been having a hard time getting back into the groove for about a month now, and I've realized it's primarily because I just plain miss my Spartacus Pete. It's been about a month since we lost him. He always hung out with me in my art studio, and it's a bit lonely there without him. This photo of him sitting smack dab in the middle of my jewelry bench is one of my favorites, and it now sits on the shelf above my workbench so he can keep an eye on me. ⁣ ⁣ 

We adopted a new kitty today. We met her last week, and she just got spayed this morning for pick up. Her name is June, and I'll share pictures later. It was a tough decision, and I'm not sure my and Sarah's hearts were quite ready yet, but we've been worried about Zoey. Prior to his death, she'd never been without him and she's been a little depressed. Since the girls are going back to school tomorrow, we decided it was time to find her a new pal. ⁣I know with all the craziness going on in the world, the loss of a pet may seem a small thing, but I think all the craziness going on in the world made it an even bigger thing for me. Pete left a paw size hole in my heart. I know my pet lover friends understand!

Sunday Gratitude ... and Having to Say Goodbye to my Best Pal

We had to say goodbye to our beautiful boy Spartacus Pete this past Thursday. So what can I possibly be grateful for about that? Stick with me for a few minutes. My sweet Pete had a cancerous mass removed in December. Doc told us that if it didn't come back within a year, we were likely good. I think Sarah and I were in a little bit of denial as it started coming back, always asking each other, "Is this his mass coming back or is this his bone? I can't tell. Can you?" We kept telling ourselves it was his bone. Long story short, we were denial, and his cancer had come back, but we didn't have that confirmed until another issue arose.

We were home in Jacksonville the week of July 13 taking care of some routine doctor and dentist appointments when I started noticing him acting strangely, his breathing labored. By the next day, I just felt in my bones that something was wrong, so we rushed back to Tallahassee to get him to his vet there. Turns out that not only had his mass on his side come back, but he also had a large mass in his chest which was creating fluid and flooding his lungs. Doc drained his lungs so he didn't have to struggle to breathe, and we decided to put him on some prednisolone, bring him home and love him for long as we could keep him comfortable. I couldn't bear to put him through surgery again, knowing the cancer would continue to come back.

Pete's always slept with me most nights, and he actually woke me up about 4am Wednesday morning - my girls' birthday - struggling to breathe again. I tried to comfort him and prayed hard for God to give him just one more good day so that he didn't die on the girls' birthday. I'm grateful God granted my prayer, as Pete soon was able to settle down, his breathing steadied, and he went back to sleep. He had a pretty good day Wednesday but started struggling to breathe again Wednesday night. Thursday morning he continued to have labored breathing and didn't want to eat even the best stinky wet food - and Pete loved to eat - so we knew it was time.

This boy brought us so much love and joy in his six short years. He was our first foster failure. We fostered him and his brother Repeat (yes, Pete and Repeat, and even we messed up the names), and hadn't planned on foster failing (of course, you never PLAN to foster fail). I took them both back to the shelter when they were ready for adoption, but three days later when Repeat had gotten adopted and Pete had not, we took that as a sign that he was meant to be ours.

He loved his toys and had them all over the house, but his favorites were the pillows out of the girls' doll house and his taco fish. The girls finally gave up and let him have all the doll house pillows, and he often left his taco fish for me on my pillow. He was a champion baseboard surfer, he loved to lay on my desk under the lamp whenever I was working on my computer or across Sarah's bed in a sunny spot with her, and one of his all time favorite places was on my left shoulder. He'd stand up on a counter or the bed and crawl right on up and hang out there, purring, as long as I'd let him. Sometimes I'd pass him from my shoulder to Sarah's, and he'd just keep on purring. He often held down the refrigerator for us so it couldn't get away, and he sometimes was that creeper who lain in wait on the top of the kitchen cabinets, just his eyes and ears peeking over the top.

Here's what I'm grateful for. First, the power of prayer. So incredibly grateful that the good Lord gave us that one extra day so he could be there, comfortably, for the girls' birthday. Second, in these days of COVID when we've all spent so much time at home, I'm grateful I had that extra time with him and grateful for those last 12 days we were given to help prepare us to ease his suffering. I'm grateful that we chose to foster kittens, and we chose to foster fail with this fella. And I'm grateful for every day and every cheek rub and every purr in the ear he gave us. I've cried a lot of tears over the past two weeks, but my boy is not struggling any more, and for that, yes, I'm grateful. See you at the Rainbow Bridge, my sweet Spartacus Pete, for I know we will meet again. Find Savannah; she'll show you the way. We were so blessed to share our lives with you. You were most certainly one of a kind, and I loved you with all my heart.

Best Shot Monday: Red

I think it goes without saying that my girls and Red here really took to each other! They tried to convince me that we needed to adopt him because he matched their hair.  :-) It's truly amazing what a little time at the shelter does. My girls are usually grumpy about having to go each week (let's face it, they are teenagers, during the summer, and we have a 10am shift so we can beat the heat...), but as soon as we get there and do our thing, their tune changes dramatically. Volunteering is good for the soul, and for us, volunteering with these pups is extra good for the soul! Sweet Red was adopted last week, but he has lots of friends still waiting at the City of Tallahassee Animal Service Center!

Best Shot Monday: More Manger!

My daughter and I spent some more time with Manger this past week. He's finally starting to feel more comfortable and realizing that we humans can be great!  I captured this cute series of burst shots. Adopt a shelter pet for love like this! Manger is available for adoption from the City of Tallahassee Animal Service Center.

Best Shot Monday: Meet Manger

Meet Manger. This sweet fella really captured my heart this past week. He came into the shelter as an owner surrender, and he's pretty beat up. He's super shy and timid at this point, so I just sat in his kennel with him for a while to win his trust. After about 20 minutes of sitting with him, much of it with his head tucked in my arm between gently taking treats from me, he agreed to come out with me. He is such a sweet love and will need a patient adopter to work slowly with him to help him learn how much we humans can love him. He's available for adoption through the City of Tallahassee - Animal Service Center. The shelter is currently open for adoptions by appointment. ⁣

There are so many homeless animals out there that need families. Next time you are considering adding a new furry friend, please consider visiting your local animal shelter instead of buying a pet from a pet store or a breeder. Rescued animals know they've been rescued, and they'll return the love tenfold. Support your local animal shelter! Volunteer. Adopt. Foster. Educate. Donate...⁣

Best Shot Monday: Meet Grisham

Meet Grisham. Grisham is the type of dog that so often gets overlooked in a shelter. He's big and black, and he's a little hyper in his kennel. But this guy really is pretty awesome. Just look at that face!!! Once we got him out of his kennel, he was actually pretty good on his leash and settled right down. He loves to play fetch and he takes treats very gently. The cutest thing is that he prances like a deer when he runs! So cute! Grisham is available for adoption at the City of Tallahassee Animal Service Center. Our shelter is slowly opening back up to full business capacity!

Best Shot Monday: Ozzy

I hope you are doing well in these super trying times! Around here, we are grateful we're able to get into the shelter to volunteer. It brings at least that little bit of normalcy to our week. The shelter has done a great job managing all this with the volunteers in a very safe way ... we are limited in the number of volunteers allowed per skill level per shift and assigned to a "team" so that we are only interacting with the same group of people, and even at that, keeping our social distancing and wearing masks when around others. This past week started the temperature taking and a list of questions before we could begin our shift, so even more precautions in place.

Ozzy here is one of the adorable new faces we got to meet this week. Doesn't he have the sweetest face? And such gorgeous eyes. His markings are really unique as well and one of them forms a sweet little heart on his side. So cute! He's available for adoption at the City of Tallahassee Animal Service Center. They are doing adoptions by appointment! Thanks for stopping in today!

Best Shot Monday: The Many Faces of Ella

Oh, the many faces of Ella. The Daily Dose of Awesomeness and I have fallen hard for this girl over the past two weeks. She's a mess, really. Horribly cropped ears, super snaggle tooth, bad hips (but she gets around just fine, thank you) ... but the sweetest, most lovely personality ever. We would have taken her home in a second if I thought we could handle three dogs (and two cats) right now, but there is just too much going on in our lives to add another to our pack. Someone out there will be very lucky to add this sweet girl to their family.

She's about 8 years old and would be the perfect couch companion. All she wants to do is sit next to you and enjoy all the pets and snuggles. She's available for adoption at the City of Tallahassee Animal Service Center. They are open for adoptions by appointment. Go to their website to complete an application and bring Ella home! I want visiting privileges.

When You Lose a Friend ...

Frankie ... I photographed Frankie for the second time this past Wednesday. And I loved him just as much as I loved him the first time I photographed him about a month ago. Yesterday, though, he breathed his last breath, so today my heart is a little shattered. This is by far the hardest part of volunteering at an animal shelter. Yes, the senior dogs that show up break my heart. The ones that show obvious signs of abuse break my heart. But this. Falling in love with a dog and then learning that he didn't make it out breaks my heart the most. Sometimes things just happen, and they can't be overcome.  

Frankie came into the shelter as a stray at nearly 90 pounds, quite a bit over weight.  Up until yesterday, he'd been with us for about six weeks and was slimming down. He was in play group, but the past two days in play group, things did not go well. Frankie got in a tussle in play group on Wednesday, but staff and volunteers were able to break it up and thought it was an isolated incident. I actually walked him and took this photograph after play group that day.  He came back out in play group yesterday, and unfortunately, the previous day turned out to not be an isolated incident.  He got into another tussle and things worsened. Because of his behavior, shelter staff decided the best course of action was to humanely euthanize him. Having seen what he was capable of in the right - or wrong - circumstances, they could not risk adopting him out to the public. I did not see this happen since I don't volunteer with play group, but I can imagine that it was a scary and traumatic thing to witness.  

I know that part of the gig of being a shelter volunteer means accepting that this happens sometimes, but accepting it certainly doesn't make it any easier (and for the record, it happens at private humane societies, too, not just municipal shelters). The Frankie I knew was sweet and friendly with his people, and he surely did steal my heart. He was my favorite kind of land manatee. He was goofy and loved belly rubs. When he was tired on his walk, he'd just plop down, usually on my feet. And he was gentle and affectionate with me. It's not my place to second guess the shelter staff's decisions, particularly since I was not there to witness the incidents, and I know theirs is a very difficult job. I appreciate that they took the time to reach out to me personally and let me know. But I could not let this week pass without recognizing Frankie here. He lived ... and he loved ... and he was loved ... and he mattered. Run free, sweet Frankie. See you at the Rainbow Bridge, for I most certainly loved you in this life. ⁣

Support your local animal shelter. They need you. The animals need you. I'll keep doing what I do and work harder for Frankie. 

Best Shot Monday - Sweet Grizzled Faces

Well, hello there!  Short of a Happy New Year post, looks like I took the whole month off from posting!  Let's get back to work for February!  For my Best Shot Monday this week, I wanted to share these two sweet grizzled faces.  MJ, above, and Celeste, below, are both about ten years old and both ended up in the shelter when their previous owners moved. (We won't even get started on how you really can move with a dog...)  Both are super sweet, well-manned seniors. Senior pets are super stars!  They are normally already house-trained, they won't chew up your shoes, and all they want to do is hang out and chill with you. They are the perfect companions. MJ and Celeste are both currently available for adoption at the City of Tallahassee Animal Service Center, but I'm betting there are some awesome seniors at your local shelter as well. Adopt a senior!