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Musings from the Laundromat: Vultures and Sleeping Dogs edition
Ah Sunday.
I stayed up until 2 in the morning last night completing a side job I’d committed myself to. It helped that The Breakfast Club was on.
Some of my favorite dialogue from that movie:
John Bender: YOU ARE A BITCH.
Claire Standish: Why? ‘Cause I’m telling the truth, that makes me a bitch?
John Bender: NO. ‘Cause you know how shitty that is to do someone, and you don’t got the balls to stand up to your friends and tell them you’re gonna like who you wanna like.
Yeah! Go John! But, Claire was just being honest.
I digress.
I stayed up late and mentioned online that I could sleep in. A friend pointed out that I wouldn’t. True. This is true. I awoke at 7-ish.
Not so much the dog – she was sleeping in.
For her to stay still for a photo op is a feat, for her to stay still with her eyes closed is a freaking phenomenon, so I’ll share the moment.
I decided to let sleeping dogs lie and gather the laundry.
I live on a dirt road – in the desert. As I turned left onto the paved road, something caught my eye to my right.
I checked my rear view mirror and spotted the eye catchers.
Vultures.
A U-turn was in order.
I could not let a moment like that pass without being photographed.
I pulled up next to them as ninja-like as I could in a PT Cruiser and turned off the car, and waited.
And waited.
And wished I had my ‘real’ camera.
And wished I had my tripod.
And waited.
I began to feel the vulture’s frustration as car after car came along to keep them away from the kill.
The kill by the way, was a rabbit. Well, part of a rabbit. It was mostly the head and some torso … a leg was about a foot away from it. (No pun intended)
Every time a car came along, I looked away … I didn’t want to see it run over. My stomach can only stomach so much.
At last a brave vulture decided, ‘screw this – I’m getting the rabbit’ and swooped majestically down and took hold of the carcass in its beak.
And I wished again that I had my camera.
Vultures are an awesome sight to behold. They’re HUGE and gorgeous.
I did not do them justice with my ipad – but you use what you have.
Here’s what I have:
Circling the kill
The brave vulture telling the not so brave vulture to back off.
Success!
“Talk to the wing!” Didn’t that latecomer ever read ‘The Little Red Hen’? Probably he’s eaten one … but everyone should read ‘The Little Red Hen’.
You don’t get something for nothing people.
Got to help plant, harvest and bake if you want that bread. Or, get off your telephone pole if you want rabbit.
Chalk Bear and Dragonfly
Sharing a couple of photos taken last week, while I think about what I want to ‘Muse’ about here at the laundromat.
I think I’ve decided the cloud photo will be the test I use to make sure people in my life are on my wave length.
If you see a bear awkwardly holding a piece of chalk in the photograph below, you’re in the right place.
And Friday, oddly enough, I had been discussing dragonflies with a friend at work. I came out of the office and right next to my car, saw this poor little beauty. Strange though – one of those coincidences that gives me pause.
Playing with the moon – and cherishing my son
A beautiful moment at close to four o’clock in the morning.
I had let Butters outside, and returned to my room. As I went back to retrieve my cream colored, insomniac manatee/sharpei/shepherd – I bumped into my son coming inside.
We had both remembered the moon.
We sat outside together, listening to the birds – in the dark, and staring up at that gorgeous huge moon. As dark as it was outside, the moon shone like the sun. We spoke of how the sky must have looked before electricity. We spoke of stars and places available to see them in total darkness.
And as we spoke, and sat in awe of that moon, I was filled with such gratitude and love for the relationship I have with my son.
When we both went in, he was wide awake – I got back under my sheets and he came into my room and sat on my bed beside me … “It’s like Christmas …” he said. And it did have that feel to it.
That up-too-early, but full of wonder and leisure feeling.
We parted, but that moment didn’t go unwritten in my memory bank. I love that he chose those words. I love that his memories of being up early and excited and us being together brought that comparison to his lips.
I awoke again at 5:30 and managed to capture the moon on my ‘real’ camera. Then I played with it a little. 😉
Photos for four four 13
Here’s some photos I’ve taken within the last week. The second to last pic is in my yard, I’m really hoping it isn’t a tarantula hole! :-O
Gearing up for a great interview post so watch this space. 🙂 Amanda.
Photo therapy
Lay in bed this morning with not a fiber of my being wanting to get up.
I am in a funk of all time funks for a myriad of reasons. But life goes on.
Laundry was skipped last weekend due to my tooth pain – blah, blah, blah – I’m so over talking about that. But, fact is, I had to do laundry today.
I milled about the house, crawled back into bed. Found myself watching ‘The Shahs of Sunset’ reunion show on Bravo. What the hell? I don’t even watch the show – no clue who the people were. But evidently, reaching for the remote and changing the channel wasn’t in the cards.
Get up Amanda.
I sat outside.
I haven’t been reading as often lately, tried to read a few pages. Haven’t picked up a paint brush in a while either, nor my camera.
“Go do laundry, and take some pictures” a voice in my head told me. From where I sat, I could see fog over the river – the mountains looked beautiful.
Okay. Get dressed and just DO IT!
So I did it. Shoved our laundry into a couple of washing machines and took myself and my camera off for some quality time.
Heads up – I’m the Queen of zoom and crop. Whereas, my son captures a subject and leaves in the surroundings, whether aesthetically pleasing or not, and his photos end up amazing. I love that about him. He doesn’t edit life. I just have a problem not editing my mouth.
Without further ado:
The reason I took my camera. Fog is rare here in the desert. It called to me. The Colorado River creates it from time to time, and every time it does, its gorgeous.
Decay and growth. I loved the juxtaposition of the two.
And here too. The area I was shooting in is prone to fires. The tree in the back obviously burned and the new growth in the foreground just made such a pleasing image.
Love the curl of this metal.
Beauty and the desert beast
The reservations irrigation system.
Looked like a mirror – or a framed picture to me
Gawd I loved these
Spent shell – wonder what was on the receiving end of this?
He’s a rocks rock
On my knees in rams head weeds to get this shot, pretty sure I have a couple of puncture wounds – but worth it
Home now – this little guy is growing through the steps. I won’t go into that metaphor. But I was proud of it and that little flower inspires me.
On the way home from the laundromat a song came on that for that very moment in time, couldn’t have been more apropos. Every word spoke to me. And I don’t know when this funk will break – but I know it will. I know this. But I’m nothing if not authentic, and I never ‘fake it til I make it’. I’m not going to plaster a smile on my face. I don’t feel like smiling just yet. I have big decisions to make, big changes to consider and time is slipping by quickly. I am sad, scared, 50 shades of blue and deep in thought. But life is still beautiful. I am still grateful. And tomorrow is another day.
Here’s that song.
Debauchery Soup 