Rain had fallen much of the night and continued throughout the day, meaning I couldn't initially take the dogs on their usual morning run in the forest. When they don't get their morning walk, the dogs get restless and engage in a lot of play fighting. Eleanor is not as spry as she used to be, but in this video clip you can see her attacking Ramona as she lay on the laboratory ottoman, impatient that I was checking the Facebooks (yes, for me it's actually plural) instead of leading them on an adventure.
Later, though, the rain weakened into a bearable drizzle, so I took the dogs up the Farm Road and then up the Chamomile Headwaters Trail, cutting over to the Stick Trail by wending my way off-trail down a steep escarpment. Along the way, I found a large fresh bolete with a slimy pink-colored cap and white pores. Perhaps it was a Boletus separans. I brought it home with the intention of eventually eating it.
Meanwhile the cats Oscar and Celeste were taking advantage of the weakened rain to venture out into the yard. There they were accosted by the curses of a male Indigo Bunting who has been a notable presence around the house for the past month or so. I imagine he has a wife with a nest somewhere, but all he ever seems to do with his time is follow the cats around and curse at them. His curses are a percussive "Peek!" uttered every half second or so, each utterance sounding a bit like someone striking the highest (or perhaps a theoretical higher) note of a piano. He's not especially frightened by humans, so I've been able to snap some good photographs of him using the telephoto-lens-equipped camera I use for nearly all of my bird photography.
The male Indigo Bunting in the rain, perched atop a bean climbing pole in the garden and cursing at the cats.
Today I made another big bulk frying pan of bean glurp containing the rest of that large eggplant I'd bought the other day as well as onions and mushrooms (though not the one I collected today). Tacos and burritos are on the list of foods that I could happily eat every day for the rest of my life.
I did a fair amount of web development today, though eventually I ran into trouble regarding the flow of data in the frontend. When that happens (especially when Gretchen is away), it's easy to say fuck it, make a drink, and go watch teevee.
