Oscar and Alice in a weird afternoon snowstorm.

Really small, dry snow, but in the middle of a vicious wind storm so it was like a white hazy wall of pure cold. The dogs wanted to go outside and run around in it, so I decided to snap a few shots.





Alice was ready to come inside after a few minutes.
Ever the ball fiend, Oscar wasn't quite ready.
But I made him come in, so now he's pouting.~Austin

Crescent moon and pink clouds amidst a peaceful July sunset.

Looking west. It only lasted for about ten minutes (if that). This has been the first evening in weeks that wasn't completely windy.





I've been listening to Kate Bush's Hounds of Love album nonstop lately. It's in the process of changing the way I think. Stunning, magnificent and gorgeous music. I'd like to think these shots are a good accompaniment to that.

~Austin

Oscar and Alice again.

Alice has settled in extremely well since last fall...







...wouldn't you say?

~Austin

Moonrise at dusk.

Such a bright contrast between hanging clouds and a near-full moon.

Picked up David Sylvian's Manafon this afternoon. Too early for any clear headed assessments, but I am fairly taken aback by it — even going in knowing it was basically the sequel to Blemish. Stark, spacious, bleak and strangely gorgeous. An involving listen for sure, but worth every second.

More year end wrap-ups forthcoming.

~Austin

Now the weather outside is just plain inordinate.

We rarely, if ever, see fog in Reno. Not to mention, fog this thick that sticks around for extended periods.

No, that's not just a fuzzy image; the fog is just that thick.

However, because of the higher elevation of Reno, this is freezing fog. To give an example of how thick it actually is, here's another shot taken from the same vantage point as the last one, except using a flash:


It was pretty much foggy all day. In my twenty two years as a Reno resident, I don't ever recall fog sticking around this long.

Strange times.

~Austin

The weather outside is frightful.

So I woke up Monday morning to this:

A huge sigh of relief when I heard that school was canceled for the day and I had the day off to shovel and shovel and shovel. We accumulated about five inches of snow over the course of Sunday night and the on/off showers throughout the day Monday. Well, it continued to go on and off all through the week until last night, when it dumped another several inches starting just as the sun was setting and lasting until well into the night.

After a few more hours shoveling this morning, I finally cleared the driveway to my satisfaction:

A quick measurement of the accumulation at the end of the driveway revealed this:

That sort of accumulation is expected up in the mountains and around Lake Tahoe, but we rarely ever see the snow fall heavily enough —and stick around— to accumulate that much.

While shoveling this morning, the sun came out and I snapped these bright shots looking south into the breaking clouds:



We're supposed to see more snow this evening.

*sigh*

~Austin

Oscar and Alice

That's Oscar on the left. We adopted him as a rescue adoption from the SPCA in Yuba City last October. He's a pure bred Cairn Terrier (yes, like Toto). They couldn't say for sure, but were pretty convinced that he was from a puppy farm of some awful sort.MOIRA ACQUIRED HIM SOMEHOW IDK.  So, he has warmed up to us over the past year, but he is still very apprehensive about just about anything (except going to the dog park!) and, as is the case with his breed, he loves to just bolt and explore the streets without a leash. He's secretly a big baby and loves to be rubbed on top of his nose.

Alice, on the right, is brand new to the family. She was also a rescue adoption from the High Sierra Animal Rescue up in Portola and was on the list to be put to sleep in the coming weeks. She has Terrier in her in some way, but we are not sure of her exact breed. She seems to have been fed very little, as she is just skin and bones right now. And she was just spayed on the 11th, so she she is especially wary. But she is pure love, as the first thing she did upon meeting me yesterday was lick my hands uncontrollably. A big sweetie.

Look at those two. What an odd couple. An incredibly irresistible odd couple.

~Austin

Moonrise from the porch of the new digs.

We I WAS FORCED TO MOVE HOUSE YET AGAIN this past weekend and, while unpacking and whatnot, a full moon rose up out of the haze and I snapped this quick shot from the front porch of our new place.

The new place is sweet in really practical ways UNHEALTHY AND ENABLING: basement, washer and dryer, garage of our own, not an apartment, bigger, etc.

Recently acquired the Sundazed label's great expanded reissues of Chad and Jeremy's The Ark and The Cyrkle's Neon. Good breezy moving music for fall.

Haven't gotten the records or stereo set up yet; this week sometime I imagine. It's always a slow process reassembling AND SOMETIMES IT NEVER ACTUALLY HAPPENS ANYWAY.

~Austin

Sunrise over the backyard fence.

Went to let the dog out this morning and I got this spiffy little view of the sunrise colors meshing with the fall leaves. I caught cold over the weekend and I'm feeling it today. Nothing too serious; I just can't handle that awful sore throat/irritated sinus combo.

I am going to start compiling a list of my favorite albums of the past decade, so it may be a while until my next music post.

Stay tuned.

~Austin

Food: Grilled chicken and veggies with red leaf salad

I used some lump hardwood for my coals this time, instead of briquettes. They take a bit longer to get hot, but they stay quite hot for a long time.

Fennel, white onion and russet potato were all drizzled and rubbed with canola oil and grilled for about six minutes on either side. After the potatoes were done, I opted to throw some Sriracha on the side and some freshly cut chives on top. I overcooked the veggies the other night (hence, no photo) so I was careful to keep turning and make sure everything was getting done, but not too done.

The chicken was just a couple of organic free range breasts, rubbed with Spice Hunter's Seafood Grill Shaker and a bit of extra salt. About five minutes on either side and done.

Red leaf salad with chopped hothouse tomatoes and mozzarella cheese chunks.

And when I went out to scrape the grill and wrap things up, I saw this nice view of the moon through the neighbor's tree...


Oh my, am I ever full and happy.

~Austin

Moon blends with clouds.

From the back yard about half after six this evening. I nearly missed it because the moon was camouflaged among the clouds so well.

Subtle beauty. Awesome.

~Austin

Sunset over Peavine.

The haze in the high desert air created a nice ambiance for this evening's sunset. Here's a shot from up the street about a half block [WHERE I WENT TO GET AWAY FROM IT ALL]:


And here's the artsy, post-modern, urban chaos revision of the same shot:Hot as all heck today though. Not sure of the official recorded high temp, but it felt like one of the hottest days of the year to me.

~Austin

PS IT WAS 101 DEGREES FAHRENHEIT THAT DAY AT LEAST THE HOTTEST DAY THAT MONTH

Moon through the clouds.

Good stuff.From the back yard about a quarter after nine this evening.

~Austin