Dreaming of a German Shepherd

I had a dream about owning a German Shepherd. It's the kind of dog I want to have one day. I decided I need to spend more time on my ongoing series, Inventory of Mortality, a series that is based on my relationship with my father. I am slowly building images into this series. The work will be very different from my other landscape based work. I spent two days working on the images below, I think they will be a diptych.

A case of mistaken identity

I'm embarrassed to admit that I've been wrongly identifying the sea lions at the Central Park Zoo as seals. They are my favorite part too, since I get to walk by them on my way into work every morning. I figured this out when I read about the sea lions at Pier 39 in San Francisco. This free "attraction" was by far my favorite part of my trip to SF. I spent a couple of hours just listening to them talk noisily to each other, barking, playing, pushing each other around, and swimming. They are fascinating. And best of all, these sea lions were there because they liked it there. They are free to come and go as they please so the numbers fluctuate- there were about 200 there that day. Their world is so big, they must see so many great sights. It's a MUST DO if you visit San Francisco. I even called my sister and left her a happy birthday voicemail so she could enjoy them too.

Gone to the fair!

The NJ State fair at the Sussex County fairgrounds rocks! The lobster roll guy from Maine didn't show- I was really looking forward to it, being the only non super fried food at the whole event. We went on Saturday afternoon. I had a corn dog. I eat a hot dog once maybe two, three years, maybe. But I have a weakness for corndogs- thank goodness they are not so common. In Taiwan, when we were growing up, my cousins, sister, and me would go to the top two floors of the mall near my uncle's place and entertain ourselves by playing arcade games, bumper cars, and eating corn dogs. The hotdogs in Taiwan are skinnier, pinker, sweeter and not so salty. I don't think they are any better for you but the corndogs there are so yummy. I give in to them sometimes when I stroll through the night markets.




We checked out the pie eating contest in the 3-6 year old category. The boys were amazing, especially Ryan, the little boy who won. He stuck his face in the pie and used his teeth to get at the crust. The boy next to him was amazed.





We only had enough tme to check out the chickens and rabbits. The breeds were so interesting. This is the best part of the fair for me. I was sorry to have missed the alpacas and the other animals. Daphne, I wish you were here to see all of the rabbits! There were so many and they were so cute and amazing looking!


Then there was the pig race which was too quick but amusing enough.


The greenhouse was a bit disappointing. It could be that the stuff had been sitting there for a week already. For more pictures, check out my Flickr photos.

flurry of sightings

Last night, as Geoff was sitting on the back porch watching the rain in Pond Eddy, a little baby skunk rubbed against his leg. He went inside and came back out with some cat food for it. This morning inside the house there was some commotion in the computer room with Boom Boom and Ray. Geoff checked in on them and found them with a baby bat. He caught it and released it outside. On the way to the vet at Port Jervis (Boom Boom got a check up) he saw a bald eagle in the sky. On the way back, he saw a baby snapping turtle crossing the road. He picked it up and rescued it. He brought it back to Pond Eddy and released it in a pond. He spotted a snake by the pond. As he approached the driveway, he saw a Mama bear with two cubs. They ran up the hill when they spotted him. And I missed it all.