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Our dog Frodo has certainly thrown a monkey wrench into my week! Yesterday he vomited three times and was behaving very listlessly, which was alarming since he's normally so energetic. I sped him to the emergency veterinarian around 1:00 PM, and it was probably about 5:00 PM when we finally made it out of there. I took him back there today for a follow up evaluation, and after over two hours of sitting in the waiting room, they finally took him into the back for an x-ray. More waiting ensued until the doctor told me that he would need an ultrasound, at which point I begged to go home because I really had some things to take care of that had gone by the wayside yesterday. So I left Frodo in their capable hands and scurried home to deal with of a couple of urgent things related to my small business and my upcoming surgery. Around 6:30PM they called us to say he was ready to go home, but picking him up took another hour or more because again there was much bench warming in the waiting room. Sigh. It's very much like going to the emergency room for humans. So much waiting! Anyway, all of this is my long way of saying that my plans to wander around town with a camera during the two reasonably warm days this week were completely quashed by the pet emergency, so I here's a photo of a cute duck that I took in Nancy Lewis Park (I think) last October.

I'm sure you're wondering what was wrong with Frodo: his pancreas is inflamed, so he's on a restricted diet for the next couple of weeks. He has completely bounced back from his ordeal already and is bugging us for snacks, which we are not giving him! No snacks until he's 100% again. Only boiled chicken and rice, little man! We are so relieved that he's all right. By the way, all that emergency vet nonsense cost just shy of $2000. Thank goodness we have pet insurance, and if you have a furry friend, you should look into it. Worth every penny.

The Buck Stops Here (In Our Front Yard)

But what kind of buck was it, deer or rabbit? This large pile of poop next to our driveway was accompanied by three other piles of the same size. I say it must have been a deer, although we rarely see them in our neighborhood. Pat says it was a rabbit, because he saw one in our yard as he was leaving for work on the day this picture was taken. I can't believe one rabbit could make four piles this large, but what do I know? Maybe it was a whole gang of them conspiring together to poop in our front yard. Who do you think was the culprit?

Oblivious

Do you see those vehicles parked on the upper right side of this photo? Just to the right of them (outside the frame) is the building that housed my photography studio on Weber Street for a full decade. The large edifice on the left is a Safeway grocery store. Suffice it to say that over the course of that decade, I traversed this sidewalk countless times, from my studio to Safeway and back, and yet I never once noticed this big flat circle. I apparently quite literally walked right past it at least once a week for 10 years, and yet it never registered in my brain as a large circle shape until last month, when I was walking Frodo along this path. Isn't that hilarious? It's clearly been there for years but was invisible to me. And they say artists are highly visual people. Ha! 

And now, for your listening pleasure...

Half Mast

Flags are still flying at half mast in remembrance of President Jimmy Carter, who passed away last month at the ripe old age of 100.  I took this photo yesterday, the inauguration day of a certain orange felon who reportedly was none too pleased that another, much better president (and man) was still  being honored on his big day. At least President Carter had the good sense to pass away before the idiot's inauguration. May he rest in peace!

Mid-Mod Awesomeness

This is the coolest midcentury modern house in the whole city, which is saying a lot. I discovered it several years ago and it was love at first sight. A little internet sleuthing tells me it was built in 1963. Check out the Asian influence in the roofline -- so cool! You can find this beauty a little beyond the bottom end of Palmer Park on Paseo Road, north of the golf course. I love this house!

Sunday Style!

In the absence of any recent "man on the street" photos (it's been too cold to go out style hunting), I give you this image from a shoot I did at Chuy's Restaurant last month. These young ladies are all modeling prom gowns that can be had at Bridal Elegance Boutique. What a lovely group, and the dresses are so colorful!

King Sized Saint Francis of Assisi

Yesterday I had to meet with my surgeon in advance of the gallbladder surgery I'll be undergoing at the end of the month. His office is next to Saint Francis Hospital, which has a very large statue of the man himself to greet you as you drive into the parking lot. I have to admit that, even though I'm not a fan of organized religion (and that is an understatement), I don't mind this piece. It's kind of nice if you don't look at it in the context of Catholicism. Just a cool metal statue of a guy with a dove.