Every time I meet someone new, I always like to tell a joke, say something sarcastic, or tell a funny story. That way, I can immediately see if they have the same kind of sense of humor as I do, or if they don't. I wish I could have taken a picture of some of the looks from the ones who definitely do not have the same sense of humor as me. What? I love to laugh. There's nothing wrong with that. Right?
So, in that case, here is where my dogs come in. Over the years, we have had many, many animals, and almost always owned at least one dog. Those funny stories range from the big dog lying too close to the edge of the bed, stretching, and then falling off of the bed, only to jump back up, like, I didn't just do that. To another dog wanting to come inside and, for some reason, deciding to jump onto the counter on the back porch, then running right into the big window to the kitchen, smushing himself flat for a second. Fortunately the glass didn't break, so no worries.
And then there's my two current dogs. Zelda (yes, as in the awesome game), a Mastiff mix, girl, and Harley (yes, as in Harley Davidson), a terrier mix, boy. I trained both of them, and thought, yeah, it's cute to see small dogs roll over for a treat, but what about the larger dogs? So I trained Zelda the basics; sit, stay, shake--with both paws when different hands are held out. And I also trained her to lay down and roll over. It kind of takes her a while. She starts with her hips and then the rest of her body follows. That totally deserves two treats.
One day, the two of them were out in the backyard and Harley was happily chewing away on a bone, being carefully watched by Zelda. I was watching them, from the same big kitchen window as mentioned before, when Zelda looked up at the sky, jumped to her feet, and started running to the other side of the backyard as she barked. Harley, never missing an opportunity to bark at a bird, even though they have never caught one (surprise), quickly followed her. About ten seconds after they had disappeared, Zelda came trotting back, picked up the bone, and took it halfway up our giant hill. Harley, having been fooled, slowly came back and sat on the porch, watching Zelda finish the bone.
Here they are, enjoying the fantastic California sun:
I guess I should also mention that I am a writer and a photographer. That's kind of important, huh? Writing and taking pictures are great outlets for me. (Not to mention Taekwondo and kick boxing. There is nothing more stress relieving than punching and kicking a bag. Just saying.) I've been writing since I was fourteen, and have been taking pictures for about the same time.--Back then, we used something called film. I used to like it before an entire roll was destroyed as I was trying to develop the film during my first photography class. Not fun.
There were a couple years there where I didn't like reading, but then I realized it wasn't reading I didn't like. It was the books we had to read in school. When I discovered Elizabeth Peters my Freshman year, my eyes were opened to what seemed like an entire new solar system. And for the first time, I actually couldn't wait to get a spare second so I could find out what happened next in the story. It actually also sort of got me in trouble because I would sometimes choose to read the books I liked over the assigned books. Then it would leave me scrambling to search the Internet for a very detailed summary of the book. (Don't give me weird looks. You all know you did it too.)
At first, I kept a diary, and then that transformed into writing stories. Writing is a big part of who I am, as well as photography, and I'm grateful I found them both. So, I'll leave you with a picture that was assigned in one of my photography classes where we had to use light. In case you were wondering, those are actually headlights and break lights on the freeway. And, no, I was not driving.