Cats and Trails and Garden Tales
Musings on cats, travel, gardens and life
Shapes and Colors
Didn’t plan to blog this week but found these wonderful shapes and colors on a sunny morning walk and thought you might enjoy them too!
Susanne
Hooray for Road Trips!
I’ll be taking a break the next week or so and thought it would be a good time to reblog the story of a wonderful road trip we took across the USA a few years ago. For those of you who missed it the first time, Hooray for Road Trips! I hope you come along for the ride! This is the first of 4 parts. ~ Susanne
Weekly Photo Challenge 2017
It wasn’t easy to choose but for the final Weekly Photo Challenge of the year I give you a few of my favorites from 2017.
I’ll start with sunrise over the Siuslaw River in Florence on the Oregon Coast.
And follow with my two favorite kitties, Benji and Tiger, green and deep in cat thought.
I’ll move on with my favorite local tree against an unusual cloudy night sky.
And close with this sunset in Maui.
It was a good year.
~ Susanne
Patches of Blue
Some days the weather outside matches the weather inside. Today was cold and dark, with steady rain and gusty winds. I didn’t feel like it but went out regardless to run some errands. As I left the last store I noticed the rain had stopped though the wind was chasing the clouds fiercely across the sky. They raced in glorious shades of white, some like snow, some like wool or pale yellow and gray. And finally some brilliant, infused with sun, all against increasing blue patches of sky.
I sometimes forget how the clouds only make the sky more beautiful.
~ Susanne
Those Sunny Days of Arizona
I love to retrieve a place again whenever the need arises. And so as we enter the dark days of winter, it’s time to revisit the land of the Sun, where palm trees reach high into clear blue skies.
And the heat is almost unbearable you think as you walk the trails of the Desert Botanical Garden.
Where desert plants thrive and cacti abound, including my favorite, the saguaro.
These cacti crawl like snakes on the ground.
While this purple variety is pure loveliness.
So is the monarch feeding on desert flowers
And the quail standing coyly among the thorns.
Was it only last month?
~ Susanne
I reached for a towel…
and found Benji instead.
Happy Friday from Susanne and Benji!
In the Way Again
“Benji, did anyone ever tell you you’re in the way?”
“Only you Sue,” he said.
“Well it’s true Benji. I’m trying to get some work done. Do you need to be taking a bath right here, right now??”
“Of course I do Sue! Where better? I like to be where you are so it works out pretty well. Plus your desk is dusty. As soon as I jump up, I gotta clean up.”
“Well anyway Benji. You’re in the way. Can’t you find something else to do?”
“Sure Sue!”
“No, not that Benji! Come back with my pencil!”
“Gee Sue, you’re so grouchy today. I’ll just go back outside then if you don’t mind.”
“Yes, Benji, I think it’s for the best. It’s a nice day out there, no reason for you to be inside. Finally I can get some work done!”
“My turn,” said the Tiger.
“Okay, I give up!”
~ from the desk of Susanne, Benji & Tiger
Weekly Photo Challenge: Ascending over Mt Adams
On a recent flight from Seattle to Phoenix, I was lamenting the fact that I was once again sitting on the wrong side of the plane to see a close up of Mt Rainier. A few minutes later, as we continued to ascend, the oft neglected and underappreciated Mt Adams came into full view as the sun was beginning to set.
I think I got the better deal this time.
~ Susanne
Fall Walk around Green Lake
I was raised in West Seattle and rarely ventured into other parts of the City, save for the occasional trip downtown or jaunt to the Zoo. And so I’d never been to Green Lake until we moved to the north end rather unexpectedly (at least to me) the summer before I started high school. I was immediately smitten and spent much of that first summer at the park, swimming, walking, bicycling and just hanging out at the lake.
The neighborhood is more built up now (and too expensive a place for mere mortals to live), yet when I visited over the weekend I found it still friendly and accessible, with parking available at the Community Center.
At 2.75 miles, the paved path around the lake is perfect for people of all ages. Though already December and frosty, it was a beautiful day and many were out enjoying the fresh air and fall color.
When I made it to the Aqua Theatre on the south end of the lake, I knew I was on the home stretch. The Aqua Theatre was built in 1950 for the ‘Aqua Follies,’ and featured such acts as synchronized swimming and diving in its heyday (think Esther Williams) and other musical productions. By the late sixties it even featured Led Zeppelin and the Grateful Dead, before falling into disuse and disrepair.
A shell of its former self, it’s now used by joggers who wish to add to their exercise routines by running up and down the stairs. I tried that once. Once was enough.
I continued on my way and found this tree perfectly reflected in the calm lake.
An hour later I was back to where I started, slower than most perhaps but just as refreshed.
Green Lake Park was included in the comprehensive plan developed by the Olmsted Brothers for the City of Seattle in 1905. By then much of the land around the lake had been homesteaded and so the creative design firm had the lake lowered to create more public shoreline. I’m glad they did. It remains one of the most popular parks in the City.
~ Susanne
Benji in Camouflage
~ Benji
Cats and Trails and Garden Tales 