I'm not writing or photographing today. But I do have some links for you.

Dawn, over at Twisted Sister has a great video about cats and catnip.

And Tombo, at Tombo's Blog has a short but amazing video of a huge pod of dolphins.

Check 'em out. And tell 'em Catalyst sent you!

Home on the Range

Local critters, right in the heart of my town.

" Look, it's hot, we're resting and we're not getting up to pose for your stupid camera! And you can knock off that ti-yi-yippee-yippee-yay crap, too!"

"Yeah, I am the boss around here and if wasn't for this barbed wire fence, you'd know that for sure!"

(Photos expand if you click on them.)

Hot and cool

It is 4 o'clock in the afternoon and 96 degrees Fahrenheit where I live. Don't tell me about Phoenix or how low the humidity is here. That's still just too damned hot.

So I went in search of some photos that might make me at least feel cooler.

The next two are shot over a fence at Mountain Valley Splash, the local public swimming pool.

There! I don't know about you but I feel cooler!

Emma, Emma, where have you gone?

Emma is a white cat, with blue eyes.

She belonged to the BRD.

A day or so ago, she was lying on an outdoor couch on the patio. Then she disappeared.

Cats do that sometimes.

Sometimes they feel ill and go off to a dark corner to either heal themselves or to die.

Sometimes they wander off to an open field and become "coyote candy".

Sometimes, they just come home . . . asking "what's for dinner?" and offering no explanation of where they've been.

The BRD is heartbroken. Emma had been with her for many years. We share her sadness.

So . . if you've seen Emma around your neighborhood, tell her to go home.

This photo is not of Emma but it looks like her.

Just visiting

Goldie stopped by for a visit this morning and to take time to sniff the petunias.


That job done, the sun was getting warm so he sought out a shady spot to rest.

"I'm ready for my close-up now, Mr. Demille."

Hens and chickens

Fire!

"There's a fine golden haze on the meadow..."

But wait! This isn't Oklahoma and that haze off toward Mingus Mountain isn't golden. It's wood smoke.

There's a 400 acre fire burning up on top of the mountain, in the Prescott National Forest. Forest Service officials have been letting the fire burn as it is in a region marked for treatment, i.e. controlled burning.

Meantime, as a former colleague of mine used to write in any story about forest fires . . . "smoke will settle in low-lying areas as temperatures cool after sundown."