Scruffy - Gangsta Style

You'll never guess what happened at Windy Hill Park today! Scruffy had an adventure. So Scruffy was tearing after the criminal, nearing warp speed when... Oh, wait, let me back up. Scruffy is a cat. Scruffy is a calico that has a very sweet face, or so I'm told. I've only seen gangsta style Scruffy. This is when Scruffy manages to set aside her sweet natured self and puff out her body in such a way that her fur looks like spikes, and her mouth forms into classic hiss mode. Classic? Maybe not, because classic hiss mode is unsettling, not TERRIFYING. When the teeth come out and her eyes scrunch up into tiny slits, you sink to the ground and beg for mercy. So, earlier today Scruffy went on a hike here:

This part I have to take on an onlooker's word. As I mentioned, I've never seen anything but Gangsta Style Scruffy. She was feeling rather serene, especially when she saw "Testament to the Will of the Poppy". Seriously, it was a photograph with a name before the photograph was even taken. Kind of like when they refer to a human as being a "twinkle in their father's eye" before they were born, you know?

 She ambled along this sun dappled path

 Passed some ordinary looking humans

Marveled at this moss covered tree and decided to stretch luxuriously and curl into a ball for a nap. Great way to spend a Saturday afternoon, don't you think?

Moments after her eyes were closed, she heard something. Her eyelids flew open and Gangsta Style Scruffy emerged. Her whole body tensed, her hair spiked, the hideous, dripping fangs emerged. Scruffy spied the cause of the sound and poised, prepared for the bloody battle that would inevitably ensue. The gigantic lizard, obviously hiding something, was a dangerous criminal and must be stopped from the senseless violence it was about to engage in. Scruffy crouched. Scruffy shifted her weight to her hind legs. Scruffy closed her eyes into nothing more than slits, mentally sharpened her claws. Scruffy SPRANG! She landed a mere centimeter away from the lizard's eye! The lizard darted away and Scruffy gave chase. She dialed up to near warp speed and just when she was about to finish the job, the lizard was gone. She ground to a halt and spun about wildly trying to gain sight or scent of this vicious war lord of the forest. Nothing. Scruffy sat back on her hind legs and lifted a damaged front paw to her mouth. She proceeded to lick the pad where a thorn had nicked it and drawn blood. Scruffy, a failure. A failed warrior. Devastated, she hung her head.

Meanwhile, the lizard - ME - was still running for my life!!! I don't know what the hell got into that cat. I was minding my own business, catching some rays. I think she was suspicious about my tail being hidden? I have to do that, man, the doc told me it was a cancer risk to have the tail exposed for any length of time. I dunno. I'm panting, lungs exploding, heart pounding, is that crazy cat gone? I slow down at this creek.

I hide behind a rock and COLLAPSE.

This lady looks like maybe she ran for her life from Gangsta Cat too. She's too hyper vigilant about watching for the cat and not too concerned about me, so I close my eyes and fall into a stupor, more than a sleep. Phew.

Suddenly Scruffy hurtles through the air and lands on this lady's head - ATTACKING HARD CORE! Just kidding. Lizards have weird dreams sometimes. The lady went home. Scruffy went home. See how I did that? Made you think the story was about the cat, but it wasn't, it was about ME.

Iggy Goes to the Beach

Sniff, sniff, sniff! Ferociously, the little nose sniffs the air streaming through the open window, forcefully blowing into her tiny face and causing her eyes to close, despite her best efforts to keep them open! Her entire tiny body quivers with excitement, every muscle tensed with the excitement of adventure! For Iggy is going to the beach!

We arrive in Malibu and she literally leaps from the car, paws sinking into soft, warm sand. The sun gives her short black hair a sheen unparalleled by sun seen in any other un-beached parts of the world. Perhaps, that's just my personal bias, but I'm pretty sure there's hard science to back me up about beach sun and other sun. Iggy agrees. She strains at her leash, nose to the ocean.

At last, an eternity later, well, three minutes, we settle onto our own patch of sand and start soaking up rays and nourishing our souls. The gentle waves roll in, the sea gulls dart over head and we breathe in the salty air. Iggy says no. Iggy demands that her paws dip into ocean for the first time.

We don't know if it's her first time or not, but we have to assume she's telling us the truth. Iggy is four years old and is a recent adoptee of my neighbors and friends, Gloria and Dylan. Min pins are cute, but she excels in the cute and personality departments. Dylan takes her down to the water and I take in the sights. It isn't long before a Mexican family arrive and a hot twenty-something starts chasing a frisbee on the beach. I wait, less than patiently and soon am rewarded when he removes his tshirt, revealing bronzed skin and taut muscles. *sigh* This is the life.

Directly in front of me, I see a pair of feet. Interesting.

I must investigate. Beneath the cliff, I find two lovers sharing secrets. Awww.

Closer to the water, Iggy isn't sure what to make of her parents at first. She confides to me that she is pretty sure they are crazy, but she loves them anyway.

Then Iggy turns her artistic eye into photography of shoes: because dogs love to chew those, right?

and the obligatory paws in the sand pic:

She is quite startled that there are birds the same size as humans. She is completely unconvinced when I explain to her about perception. 

She isn't really interested in birds after she sees humans that are tinier than birds, but she does dig this bird silhouette, so she snaps a quick photo. 

She is pretty impressed that I meditate by the water in such an outlandish pose. She really tries to twist her paws into that shape, but ends up falling down. 

Finally, she does the best human impression she can manage and kicks back in the beach chair. She stays there until the sun sets, painting the sky with a brilliant palette of pinks and oranges. That's not true, she only stays for three seconds and then she is off exploring again.

And this is the face I expect she'll make when she learns of all the stories I make up about her. 

Birthday Girl

My birthday, January 11th, dawned bright and beautiful (kind of like me). ;)
I stepped out into the sunlight and the crisp, cool air and perambulated about Redwood City taking in the sights. Little did I know what this seemingly innocuous day would bring.

Camera at the ready as usual - here is what I saw:

Proof that I'm still in Mexico:

I'd like to point out that this gorgeous bloom graces us with her presence in January.

Very clever. I think I should be offended but I'm too busy laughing. 

And then, my neighbor intercepted me, dragged me kicking and screaming to a party and this is what ensued...

A belligerent man demanded to know where the Crown Royal was hidden. 

The girl who broke her foot dancing but continues to dance - with a boot!

And a dog that got so excited by the bedlam and inspired by the musical intonations of TLC that she joined the din and began singing as well. 

Think it ends there? Nope. Belligerent man stopped being belligerent and started...

... well, you can see what he did. Heaven help us all, no one warned me there would be a stripper. I requested that next time I be permitted to choose the age group of my entertainment. I managed to escape this debacle unscathed physically but I can't say the same for my mental or emotional state. 

Here's to my year as a 36 year old! Older is definitely better. 

Elephant Seal Fight to the Death!

Today at Ano Nuevo State Park, I decided to tempt the fates and traverse the sandy dunes of elephant seal territory. The sky was a bit overcast, mild temperatures, with a slight wind blowing the scent of the salt sea up to us on the cliffs above the beach where elephant seals had come to give birth to their pups. After the pups are weaned, the female elephant seals will mate with the alpha male that effectively owns the group she is part of (a harem). He earns the right to mate with his group of females by fighting violently with many other males, quite bloody battles, we're told. From our initial vantage point, we could not see elephant seals but we could hear them bugling. The sound is so powerful that it travels for a mile. The gulls soared up from the beach into the sun and I stopped to admire them. 

We rounded the bend and reached the site where we picked up our docent, Nancy. We have to be very careful walking through elephant seal territory as the males can get up to 16 feet long and can weight up to 2 1/2 tons!! However, our docent is highly trained in seal-fu and here she is showing us her skills. I lost all fear when I saw her form.

 Before we arrived in elephant seal territory, Nancy gave us all sorts of information about the natives who used migrate to the coastal areas for winter and then return to the mountains in summer. The Ohlone, the natives of this region, would burn their homes before they returned to the mountains - extreme spring cleaning because of flea infestation. Fantastic. Which had absolutely nothing to do with elephant seals. So back to them. The gents arrive in December at Ano Nuevo and the ladies follow shortly thereafter. The ladies give birth to their pups, nurse their lazy butts for 28 days and then kick 'em to the curb.

 As mentioned before, the seals mate and then a year later, pups are born. What? Pregnancy for a year?!! Nope, some weird science for you, turns out the ladies don't eat the whole time they are on land - several months - so their malnourished forms can't sustain an embryo until after they are out at sea and feeding. Gestation for an elephant seal then only lasts 7 months.

Above I am standing in front of an old lightkeeper's house and a couple of elephant seal harems with lots of pups you can't see. New Year's resolution - buy a new camera. So after all the excitement of evading giant males that can move at up to 8 miles per hour, we took a casual stroll on the beach to relax and let the adrenaline wane. 

We rounded a bend and what do we see?! An elephant seal! And we are alone - no seal-fu master to protect us, just two wandering ladies, with zero seal-fu training. We gave this fellow a wide berth, skirting carefully as close to the water as possible and as far away from his giant head as we could! He didn't even lift his head up though, so we feared him for nothing.

Then there were some bird tracks but I'm not afraid of those thanks to years of training in bird-fu. 

So, nobody died today. Win!

The Ladies Who Lunch

Today the celebration of Rachelle's birthday week got into full swing. The state of California parks system stomped all over my plans to see elephant seals today *shakes fist at the sky* so we decided to step outside of the ordinary day of hiking to lunch and catch a film. We began with lunch at Scratch in Mountain View. 

This is a house made lemonade with fresh squeezed lemons and agave nectar. OMG, best lemonade I've ever tasted. Hands down.

 Then this ooey gooey plate of mouth-wateringly delicious grilled cheese for grown-ups arrived.

I'm still reveling in the fact that all bathrooms have seats on their toilets (after 9 months of maybe you'll get one if you're really, really lucky in Mexico) but this bathroom had lovely orchids too. Ambience in the bathroom scores points with the ladies, you know. 

Then we headed to the theater to see Les Miserables. Nothing to photograph there but here are some lovely sights from the center of town.

I have tickets for the seals tomorrow so I shouldn't have my plans ruined again! However, if they are, someone is going to pay dearly...

A Day of Whimsy

Wunderlich, a San Mateo County Park. Sounds downright fascinating, doesn't it? Well, wunderlich is German for whimsical and I let my imagination run wild in this park. Everything was mossy and vibrantly green from all the recent moisture and I imagined I was walking through the Shire, and that a hobbit would emerge at any moment from a hidden doorway in a tree, kind of like me!

They have stables here for horses that I'd be pleased to live in. The stables, not the horses. "Where do you live?" "Oh, in horse condos." "Really? That's nasty." "No, in Woodside." "Ohhhhhh, damn, girl, you must have some serious cash!" An imaginary conversation I had with myself in the land of whimsy. Also, check out the lovely nod to Chinese labor that they gave in such poetic fashion. I'm sure that makes up for all their misery. You can see the wall lining the road in the photo to the right. 

 

I have no idea what this dilapidated building is about, but it virtually begged for a photo, so I obliged. Fortunately no orcs emerged ready for battle.

Here I am , consoling a fallen tree in my path --- OR --- gloating that I felled a tree with my bare hands? You decide. 

Along the way, I enjoyed the work of a spider caught between two limbs and catching the rays of the sun in sparkling splendor...

...and the potentially dangerous, potentially enjoyable fungi along the way - I chose to merely enjoy the view unenhanced by its psychedelic potentiality. I so did NOT take that nibble on the left side... 

And the day ended with a majestic pink sunset!