Today’s entry is from reader Sonja, who included a cat photo. Her captions are indented:
My husband and I are long-time readers of Why Evolution Is True, so I thought I’d send you these photos of us from more carefree times in 2012, on a camping trip to Crater Lake (OR) and Redwood National Park.
Sonja at Crater Lake, August 12, 2012: We were visiting to watch the peak of the Perseid meteor showers. My husband took this photo of me standing on the rim of the caldera.
Hamilton and Sonja at Redwood National Park (Humboldt county, CA), August 15, 2012. If we look scruffy, it’s because it was our 5th day camping on the hard ground. The trees were awe-inspiring and beautiful, so tall we couldn’t capture them in photos in a way that conveys their true size.
This is Mizzy. She is 14 and has always had a cold little black heart, but she adores my 5 year old son. He’s the one who put the toy butterfly on her, to make her look like a beautiful, if chubby and grumpy, butterfly. I love the white spot on the right side of her face and the corresponding black spot on her front right paw, as if ink dripped off her face and onto her paw during development.
Love the photos, thanks!
A couple of my favorite places; Crater Lake and the Coast Redwoods.
The redwoods are a bucket list place. Please everyone see them. They deserve the word “awe” like few things on earth.
And this isn’t the half of it:
http://www.berettaconsulting.com/barbarossa/PandJ-Family/White%20Salmon/2011/IMGP7137.jpg
http://www.berettaconsulting.com/barbarossa/PandJ-Family/White%20Salmon/2011/IMGP0493.jpg
Wonderful! That’s how I imagined I’d photograph those giants, even lying on the ground under a canopy!
Watch out for the falling cones! I had one drop near me when I visited as a child and I could hear it passing through the air a split second before it thudded on the ground. Beautiful and impressive trees though.
Wow! 🙂
Good point! Wear some sort of PPE!
Cool photos! I have a shot of our 4-runner driving through Chandelier Tree.
We couldn’t resist either. So, I’m not resisting now:
http://www.berettaconsulting.com/barbarossa/PandJ-Family/White%20Salmon/2011/IMGP7197.jpg
Yes!
Thanks, Sonja, for sharing those beautiful pics. The cat is in a class of her own too
as if ink dripped off her face –
Well said.
Mizzy does not look happy.
…’cold little black heart’ – you definitely have a way with words!
Did you see the huge Paul Bunyon and Blue in Tree Mystery park near Klamath?; it’s a fun tourist attraction that speaks to people as they enter the park. My wife and I visited Red Wood National park in the mid-90’s- one of the most beautiful places we’ve ever been. Thanks for the memories. Crater Lake is also a beautiful locale; how was the meteor shower?
That cat looks just like one of mine. Our’s is 10, but she has already lost 7 of her lives, by my estimate.
🐾🐾
Lovely kitty and trees.
Very nice pics which generated some nostalgia in me. Probably the last time I spent much time in USA was about 30 years ago (though one trip of about a week 5 years ago).
The former was two consecutive conferences in Arcata, followed by the World Math Congress in Berkeley which turned out to be anti-climactic for me.
In Arcata, not far from the redwoods parks, we had 3 weeks, free weekends and a rental car, so it was a very enjoyable and memorable time for me.
But I did have one nervous time when driving up a deteriorating road right on the California-Oregon border, but fortunately didn’t end up getting stuck up there.
Great photos. My kids visited Crater Lake with my Oregonian sister last summer – no holiday booked this year, sadly.
Thanks, everyone, for the nice comments!
Darwinwins: Haha, she’s very prideful. She doesn’t mind being a beautiful butterfly, it’s being observed that she’s grumpy about in that picture.
Mark R.: No, we did not see the tree mystery park, but the meteor shower was beautiful! It could have inspired anyone to take up night sky photography.
Kevin Henderson: Tuxedo cats seem to have very specific personalities. They’re not the smartest, the best at hunting, the best at survival, the friendliest, or anything like that, but they are memorable and complicated.
phoffman56: I know what you mean. Those rural northern Californian roads are terrifying! And nary a guardrail to be found anywhere.
I, too, have a cat that looks similar. They are adorable.
The two tuxedo kitties I’ve had over the years, both males, were not the sharpest knives in the drawer, but both incredibly sweet and affectionate.