Rick and Meg

Practicing with portrait mode on my camera, I realized that I don't have a single picture of Rick and Meg. I like this one, although in the interests of full disclosure, I made a number of adjustments in iPhoto which is what I am most used to.

The lovely weather continues, unabated. It's quite cold at night and we can hear the coyotes down by the creek calling the pack together whenever they make a kill. We saw two of them crossing our path this morning, returning to the state park. It must have been a good summer for them too by the look of their sleek bodies and bushy tails!

The vultures also seem to be aware of the activity of the coyotes because we have seen more of them gathering on the power lines, spreading their wings in the early morning sun. They are so graceful soaring the skies in descending circles, zeroing in on whatever the coyotes have left behind for them, that it can be a shock to see how ugly their heads are.

The neighborhood dogs, all snug in their cushy beds can hear the coyotes too, and respond at night in a growing chorus. Sound travels up to us on top of our hill, and we sleep with the door open.When Ozzie did his best this morning to slip his leash and disappear into the forest behind the two coyotes, I had to laugh--partly at OilMan's desperate attempts to restrain him without dislocating his shoulders, and partly at Ozzie for being so fierce when he knows perfectly well that he is snug in his bed or on a leash!

We walked home from the neighbors' last night by the light of the full moon--very welcome as it is usually pitch dark down there on our country road. The nocturnal animals must appreciate it too.