Just photos today (and Mojito baby pics!)

Here's the problem with a really nice (digital) camera: the instruction manual is a book. That's what happens when cameras are more like computers these days. And it's a book I never have time to read, not that it will make for pleasant reading in the first place. All the photos I've been taking lately of my artwork are coming out terrible, and it's surely because neither I nor The Husband (much as he would like to think so) really have a clue what we're doing with all the settings and such on the camera. My goal is now to try to find the time to learn enough from the manual to at least remove all current (mostly inadvertent) settings and get it back to tabula rasa.

So, in lieu of artwork today, I bring you some photos...

After nearly two feet of snow, the sun came out for two days and started meltin' with a mission. My friend Ann and I went for a hike...and our shoes will never be the same.

And now for something completely different (say in Monty Python voice): The Husband finally found our dog Mojito's baby pics! I've been wanting to have them for some time now. When I look at Mojito now, four years old, very noble-looking and almost wolf-like sometimes, it's hard to believe he was ever that little wooly bear cub. He came to us as one of our foster dogs (we used to foster rescued Goldens) at the tender age of about 3 months (with the name of Biscuit, ha ha) and the moment we saw him (he gave us a skeptical look, which he still sports frequently) there was no question we'd be keeping him. He came from a bad situation and still has a few phobias, but he's mostly just fine now.

*****PUBLIC SERVICE ANNOUNCEMENT: PLEASE SPAY/NEUTER YOUR PET, LEARN ABOUT AND BOYCOTT PLACES THAT SELL PUPPY-MILL PUPPIES AS "PRODUCTS" (TO CEASE DEMAND), AND PLEASE ADOPT INSTEAD OF BUYING...UNTIL THERE ARE NO MORE COMPANION ANIMALS SUFFERING AND BEING EUTHANIZED FOR MERE LACK OF A HOME. THANK YOU.*****

Mojito's on the left here, supervising Jazz's ripping up of the dog bed:

*****INTERMISSION*****

And now, take a deep breath, and...

Prepare thyself for the killer cuteness!:

Didn't I warn you?

More art on my website: jalapfaff.com

Costa Rica part 3

Writing this from our hotel room the night before our flight home. This week went really fast...

We had some quality viewing time of the nine or ten hummingbird species today. I love these little jeweled creatures. It's amazing to be able to stand just an arm's length from those buzzing wings. The mosquito bites were worth it. (Photo credits: The Husband.)

We went horseback riding yesterday for our first time ever. Wow! It was really cool...that is, after an hour or two had passed and I was no longer quite so terrified. The experience seemed to me like a cross between walking a dog and learning to drive a stick shift. I thought it was quite hilarious (and also terrifying) when, right off the bat, my horse "stalled" and wouldn't move. He (the horse) did this quite often for about the first half hour or so. Eventually we came to a sort of understanding. (This all amused our young guide greatly.) The horse's personality reminded me a bit of our old dog Jazz, who sometimes, during a leash walk, just suddenly plants himself solidly and refuses to move. What I didn't realize was that my whole body would seriously hurt today. Oh my god, where did all those (sore) muscles come from?!

Our last three nights were spent at the Ecolodge San Luis in Monteverde, a very interesting place to stay/project center which happens to be an extension station of the University of Georgia. Rustic but recommended.

We spent waaaay too many hours in the car this week. It takes such a long time to get from one place to another here, because the roads are narrow and few and sometimes in bad condition, and you tend to get stuck behind slow trucks constantly. Add to that the somewhat suicidal drivers, general lack of signage and streetlights, and fog and rain, and it can take hours to get from one city to another, even though they're quite close to one another as the crow (hummingbird) flies.

I'm not looking forward to the cold and snow back home in Colorado, but I am looking forward to having hair again (no, Sam, I will not post a photo of the Jewfro, nice try), and to seeing my fur babies.

More art on my website: jalapfaff.com

Sketches and Costa Rica part 2

Today I did the Monteverde zipline and Tarzan swing. Wow--talk about an adrenaline surge! While I was flying through the air, er, I mean, fog and rain, The Husband was viewing (captive) frogs and snakes.

We got plenty wet again all day today, and are looking forward to getting rained on tomorrow too, while on horseback. My hair is one big hopeless Brillo pad.

A few things from the sketchbook from the past couple of weeks...and then a couple of photos of tonight's sunset (photo credit: The Husband).

More art on my website: jalapfaff.com