Pictured here is Dora at the age of about one month. On a whim, we decided one Saturday to go to the APL, just to look. Well, I should have known that you can't just go ogle at these precious little kittens and then just leave and pretend you didn't pine desperately to take them all home. It doesn't work that way.

While we were there, however, i met an older cat with orange stripes. I've forgotten her name by now, but it seemed important to remember it at the time. That's not the important part though. While i was visiting with this middle-aged kitty, I realized that I don't need an animal to be small and fluffy and precious to love it. I would have taken this one home had it not been for David (my younger brother) who was sure he didn't like old cats.

As we continued looking at the cats, we began to discuss which cat we would get, IF we were to take one home. The rhetorical questions always seem to be a safe bet, but it sure backfired this time. We ended up leaving the shelter with not one, but TWO kittens(One for David and one for myself). Mom had no idea.

My kitten is pictured above. She came into our family with the name Olivia, which was changed about ten different times before we settled on her present name. Isn't she cute??

New York, New York

Upstate New York is gorgeous in the fall, so I couldn't resist adding more
photos of this beautiful subject.

In this photo, I was pleasantly surprised by the quality of color I was able to capture with my borrowed 'point-and-shoot' canon.

The shadows cast on the foreground offer a wonderful contrast to the sunny background of trees. This is truly one of nature's most beautiful rainbows.

This photo, pictured at right, makes me think of the clearing described in The Time Traveller's Wife. (It's an amazing book that I recommend to anyone who doesn't mind using their brain while reading. It's well worth your while, believe me.)

Well, anyway, back to the photo. The scattered sunshine seeping through this tree's branches gives the photo an eternally happy and warm feeling. I love that this tree is able to look so fresh and new among all the other trees slowly decaying to bare branches.

At a glance, one may mistake this picture for a spring scene instead of a tree in the middle of October.

A Few Photos

I love pictures. I've heard tell that they tell a thousand words, and that's a lot of typing that I just don't have the time for. So I chose the alternate route: ten minutes of pulling-my-hair-out stress and voila! I can now put as many photos as I so choose on this little page of mine!

In this one to the right, I am floating in mid-air. Just kidding. In fact, I am being suspended by a rather sizable chunk of metal that just so happens to be connected to the largest motor I've ever seen. It's called a chair lift and they can be found at almost any ski resort, including HoliMont. Located in Elicottville, New York, this picturesque and perfectly sized club is the best place to go for a weekend on the slopes. (And I found out from a VERY reliable source that Matthew Perry has visited...)

Pictured here, at left, are my two favorite ladies in the whole wide world. At this point, we are on our way down the hill at HoliMont's Fall Festival. (If, for some reason, you start reading things in the middle of the page, scroll up so that things make sense.)

Anyway, back to my leading point. This is Mom and Lianne who I love and who I'm pretty sure feel the same way about me. The three of us get along wonderfully, for which I am so grateful.

These photos are quite ancient by this point in November, but I just unearthed them in an archaeological dig for the technological era, so I decided to share them with the world. I hope you enjoyed them! Stay tuned for more photos to come...

South Haven

To a younger version of myself, South Haven Michigan was a place where time stood still. However during my most recent visit over the Thanksgiving holiday, I realized that nothing could preserve these wide open fields and thickly forested areas from the commercial appeal of chain stores and housing developments. It's a sad thing, but it's reality.
My dad mentioned that since his childhood the town and its surroundings has gone through a time warp of big city development. I'm very curious to see how this tiny and close-knit community handles all these changes.
So here's to a unique town commercialized and the wonderful people who are lucky enough to have lived there. (Especially to the Daggetts. You guys are wonderful!)

Beginnings (Read Me First!)

Of all the aspects of a life, beginnings are by far the most consistent. Always new and fresh, they seldom disappoint.
Consistency is what makes this world go around, literally. Without at least a little bit of routine, our lives would be chaos.
It is with this philosophy on mind that I make this commitment to contribute to a blog regularly. But keep in mind that chaos does befall people at times, so I'm not making any steadfast promises.
In any event, I hope you enjoy the accounts of the life and happenings of me.