lady's slipper

a lady's slipper grows right next to the trail at oak knoll. this is the third year in a row i have seen it bloom.

remember prom?

our neighbor down the street, josh, and his girlfriend jen went to their prom last thursday night (thursday? yes, thursday). i believe when i went to my prom, we had at least 8 couples all meet at one house for photos and whatnot. eight couples. 16 kids, 16 sets of parents. photos galore. josh and jen were lucky that they only had to deal with one set of parents, one sister, and a handful of neighbors, plus all the pets. nina really wanted to be in the picture, but i told her it wasn't her day. jake really just wanted to spend more time with sneakers the cat.

some little guy

constant vigilance

nina keeps an eye out for sharks.

exoskeleton

escape to the cape

our landlord was in town for a visit last weekend, so we decided to leave town in order to not have to share our house with an almost total stranger and celebrate my birthday at the same time. we found a dog-friendly bed and breakfast on the cape and stayed in the giraffe room, which featured, among other things, the ugliest (and quite likely the only) wicker giraffe i have ever seen. the owner of the b&b has 50 classic red cars and 30+ orange and white cats.

it was kind of a gray and dreary day, but we walked on the beach, got ice cream, and spent some time driving around trying to find the kennedy compound. it was nice to get away, even if it was only for one night.

having a serious talk

yellow rump

this little guy took a header into mom's porch window.

very big eyeball

froghunter claims another victim

nina loves to stalk frogs. she'll circle the edge of a pond for hours, her eyes focused on the shallow water, searching for any sign of amphibian life. unbelievably, she is pretty good at catching things. i was more than a little shocked the first time she came trotting up from my parents' pond with a frog carcass dangling from her jaws. she doesn't eat them or really play with them after she catches them- the thrill is in the hunt.

i went home last thursday for a quick visit and thought we hadn't yet reached "frog season" in altamont and that no frogs would be harmed if i let nina spend the whole morning intent on catching one.

and that's where i was wrong.


it was, by far, the biggest frog i have ever seen.

earth day at oak knoll

walking the power line