Last Days of Summer

It's only fair to end the summer with dogs of summer. This is right where I grew up, and had no idea it was kinda a paradise...

Matins

Every morning when I drive to work I am moved, anew, by the site of a man doing his morning workout on the dock by the lake. He does push-ups, sit ups, jogs in place, all in the rain or shine. I mean, really, rain or... I often notice what isn't there. He isn't in spandex, just jeans and a T-shirt. He doesn't have some kind of gadget attached to him to verify that he is indeed, exercising. He doesn't have a hat. He doesn't have a special Northwest jacket. It's a nondescript one, usually lying on the dock beside him. Sometimes I can hardly make out his shape in the driving rain.  

The other part of the picture is a bird. Always. I used to think there was one gull who followed him. A kind of companionship borne of many mornings together. But sometimes it's a pigeon, sometimes a crow. One time there was a heron. Why? I love to speculate. Maybe because humans rarely stay in one place doing something without making noise. 

Ball!

Photographer Seth Casteel used a high-resolution camera to catch dogs at their most insane: chasing you know what. Take a look at the whole gallery, I didn't want to steal. 


(Thanks to Kate for the link!)

Watch to the end

A lovely, gentle dance. At first it is mere food-luring, yet another trick to get some footage. And then...

(Thanks to my friend Jan for sending.) 
See more about the filmmaker here. 

Murmuration

Canoe. Water. A sudden gift.