rooftop sunset

a week of grieving

Last week I posted that my cat, Little Guy had died, and to tell you the truth I was a little taken aback by how few condolences I received on that post.  I know I have reached out to many of you who have had pets that passed.  Only my friends Stephanie and Mim left a comment to heal me.  I am thankful for them.  Surprised by others of you.
What I didn't write was the terrible way in which Little Guy died, and that was that he was killed by my other cat, Morrison, who is still quite feral, despite having been here for 4 years, when I took him in as a stray.  I came home to Little Guy dead, and I will spare you the gruesome  details, but suffice to say that I am still grieving.
At first I wanted to kill Morrison myself, but then I decided to put him down.  Now I am wavering on that idea, and am thinking of keeping him after all.  He doesn't know the bad thing he did, and was acting out of instinct.  I have to find it in my heart to forgive him.
During all this my mother was admitted to the hospital with a bad decubitus ulcer (bed sore) between her thigh and buttock, and another on her foot.  Despite the fact that a nurse was there every other day to change the dressing on the ulcer, it got to a point where the bone was exposed and she was finally taken to the hospital... how it went so long with no one noticing is beyond me.  Anyway, she had surgery, and is doing well but will have to go to a nursing home for about 3 months for rehab and wound care.  She is thinking that she will not be going home but will become a resident of the nursing home.  My sister is thinking that will happen, too, but I am holding out hope that she will be able to go home with the help of her aides and all.  I'm just afraid she'll deteriorate in a nursing home.  I guess time will tell.
It has been a hard week, and I sure hope that some lighter times are on the horizon.

RIP My Little Guy - I loved you so 1998-2013

autumn haiku

On this day of 97 degree weather (and still 90 at nearly 11 at night), I think of better days to come.  Maybe by September, but definitely by October.  I don't want to push the months, but those are among my favorite, and as you know, Summer definitely isn't.
So here's my autumn haiku....

               *
fall creeps in slowly
on a leaf that scrapes the walk
dried remnants of green
                *

Snug Harbor

Went to Snug Harbor, in Staten Island, NY, today with Evie.  It was a very hot and humid day for such an outing.  There were the botanical gardens to visit, but we walked so much and found so few gardens... actually only the Chinese Scholar's Garden, which did not impress me in many ways.

At the visitor's desk, we met Liana, who was working in a big empty building with no air-conditioning.  Nevertheless, she was very pleasant, and even consented to being the first of my 100 stranger portrait project.  She was very pretty, and dressed in her own unique style.

I didn't take too many photographs, here are a few from the Chinese Scholar's garden.

Bamboo

Bamboo thicket path

koi

wet rocks

A dog named Patrick we met along the way

a unique piano

remembering Lapland

I go up the hill to see if I can see the sunset.  It must happen somewhere.
But as the sun hits the horizon, it does not sink, yet travels along the horizon for a little while, until moving higher in the sky.  It is mid summer in Lapland.  The fire-weed is growing rampant, as are buttercups and bluebells.

rainbow (nearly double) just past midnight

part of that rainbow is my blogging avatar

 Berries just waiting to bud.  Come later in the summer, the cloudberry will arrive.  A tiny jewel in Lapland. There is a cloudberry liqueur, I can no longer remember its name, fancy that.  It was tasty, but nothing I'd go for again.  I love the words though... cloudberry. Ah, Lakka, I think it was called. And a pretty berry it is, too.


Long winter and snows make for a feast of mosquitoes come summer.  I am usually a magnet for them, but they didn't bother me so much while I was there.  Lucky me.
The sun was strong and it lasted oh so long, forever in fact, and sometimes it got the better of me.  I did have a bit of heat sickness which was very unpleasant.  You just don't realize how long you are staying out in the sun, and I did it from morning till late night, usually.  I would stay on the back deck, reading, and sunning, and contemplating life.

 Later, I would share my time with my companion out there, until quite late.

The best part of Finnish life must be the requisite inclusion of a sauna in the house.  Frequent saunas are wonderfully cleansing for mind body and spirit, I believe.  And afterwards it's not unusual for a Finnish man to want to make love, so that's a plus.

after sauna

I ate reindeer while I was there... somewhat gamier than venison.  It was so so.  Didn't eat bear... I wouldn't have gone for that.

Russia is just an hour or so away from where I was, in Rovaniemi.  Didn't bother going there, though.  Although I wouldn't have minded, just to say I'd been.
When it wasn't raining, which it did a lot, to my delight, the sky would be oh so blue, and dotted with puffy clouds.

  And there were doggies, too, who were the most faithful of companions, I love them so.

July theme day - Facade

My shot is from right in front of the apartment.

For other theme day photographs, visit  July Theme Day - Facade.